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Elements of Hippology 



BY 

CAPTAIN F. C. MARSHALL, 

Fifteenth Cavalry. 



Prepared for the Department of Tactics, 
United States Military Academy. 



Second and Revised Edition. 




1908 






• 



LIBRARY of O0NGRESS 
Two CoolM Received 
JAN 131908 

~ Ooitf n«iu fcntr> 

OX* i 'W 

<&$$ 4 XXC. NO. 



Copyright, 1908, by 

Franklin Hudson Publishing Co., 

Kansas City, Mo. 



PREFACE, 



It is due to the late General Sir Frederick Fitzwygram to 
give credit^to^his book, " Horses and Stables/' for very much 
that is contained in this work, and the author wishes to thank 
his widow and her son, the present Sir Frederick Fitzwygram, 
for their kind permission to quote -from it. 

" Horses and Stables" has been the hand-book and guide 
of the American cavalry officer since the issuance of its first 
edition, and it is deeply regreted by us all that the fifth edition 
is to be the last to be revised by its talented author. 

In the preparation of these notes the works of Dr. James 
Law, General Carter, Captain Hayes," James Fillis, Gouboux 
and Barrier, and Captain Seton, and the admirable work of the 
Department of Agriculture on the " Diseases of the Horse," 
which have been the author's guide during his service as a cav- 
alry officer, have also been freely consulted. Whatever ideas 
he has developed in his experience flow from suggestions re- 
ceived from these and similar works. Nothing new is claimed or 
attempted. The effort has been made to write a comprehen- 
sive book that will cover, in outline only, all general subjects 
that a horseman should know. 

All of the anatomical illustrations are taken from "Dis- 
eases of the Horse," a public document issued by the Bureau 
of Animal Industry, Department of Agriculture. The pho- 
tographs for the rest of the illustrations, except as noted, were 
taken by Mr. W. H. Stockbridge, under the author's supervision, 
from horses and polo ponies at the Military Academy, and rep- 
resent ordinary conditions only. No effort is made to discuss 
the so-called "horse of luxury," which is, after all, only an ex- 
ceptionally good specimen of the type that ought to be adhered 
to in purchasing a horse for any special purpose. 

Special thanks is due the editor of "The Rider and Driver," 
Mr. Samuel Walter Taylor, for his kindness in loaning photo- 
graphs, and for the cover design. 

United States Military Academy, 
West Point, New York, 
January 1, '908. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Chapter. Page. 

I. — General Discussion, ..... 1 

II. — Age, as Determined by the Teeth, . . 21 

III. — Inflammation, .. .... . . .41 

IV.— The Head and Neck, . . . . . 48 

V. — Bits: Their Action, Influence, and Proper Use, 60 

VI.— The Front Leg, 81 

VII.— The Position of the Saddle, ... 97 

VIII.— The Trunk, 106 

IX.— The Hind Leg, Ill 

X.— The Horse's Foot, . . . . .122 

XL — Diseases of the Foot, ..... 129 
XII. — The Principles of Horseshoeing for Horses with 

Ordinary Feet, . . . . ,141 

XIII.— The Heart, Lungs, and Air Passages, . . 155 

XIV. — The Digestive Apparatus, . . . .164 

XV.— Stable Management, 171 

XVI. — Endurance of Horses. — Vices. — Punishment, . 181 
XVII.— The Care of Sick Horses, . . . .196 

XVIII.— Preventable Diseases, 201 

XIX. — Irregularities of Action, .... 206 

XX.— Judging Horses and the Examination for Sound- 
ness, ....... 212 



CHAPTER I 



A GENERAL DISCUSSION. 

It is useless to attempt the description in a few words of the 
origin and development of the modern horse;* we know that as 
far back as authentic history reaches, horses have been used by 
men for the manifold purposes of peace and war, toil and recrea- 
tion. For many centuries past two general types of horses have 
been preserved. One, which may be called the thoroughbred 
type,is a light, active, speedy animal, possessing great endurance. 
It finds its best uses for saddle and racing purposes. The other 
type is more powerful, but not so active, nor as fast. This 
type may be called, in general terms, the Flanders type. It is 
used for draft purposes. By crossing these two types the many 
special breeds and families of horses now in use arise. 

A thoroughbred animal is, in the broadest meaning of the 
term, one of pure blood, descended for many generations from 
animals of the same sort. Thus, one may speak with perfect 
propriety of a thoroughbred fox-terrier dog, or of a thorough- 
bred Jersey cow, or of a thoroughbred Cotswold sheep. A thor- 
oughbred horse, however, is a race-horse — not necessarily used 
for racing purposes — descended through a line of racers, from 
Arab stock. Any other sort of a horse that is of pure strain, de- 
scended from known ancestors of the same strain, should not be 
called thoroughbred, but pure-bred. 

*Those who are interested in this subject will find "The Origin 
and Influence of the Thoroughbred Horse," by William Ridgeway 
(Cambridge, University Press), interesting and exhaustive. 

l 
—2— 



2 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

A stud-book is a book that is kept for the purpose of re- 
cording the pedigree and performances of thoroughbred animals. 
The stud-book for the American thoroughbred horse is kept by 
the editor of the American Stud-Book, in New York City. To 
entitle a horse to be registered as a thoroughbred in this stud- 
book, his ancestors, for at least six generations of sires and five 
of dams, must have been so registered. 

If, in examining the pedigree of a thoroughbred horse, an 
ancestor not of pure Arabian blood is found, the horse is said to 
have cold blood. 

A well-bred horse is one descended from a line of selected 
sires and dams, chosen for the qualities they are known to im-- 
part to their offspring, and whose rearing has been carefully 
attended to. 

The horse shown in Figure 1* is an example of what cen- 
turies of intelligent breeding and the most scientific care can 
accomplish. 

An ill-bred or under-bred horse is one carelessly bred, 
whose sires and dams have not been well chosen, and who, for 
generations, have been neglected in their rearing. 

Figure 2 shows an under-bred polo pony of poor quality. 
This is a coarse animal, with abundant mane and tail. While 
it is a perfectly sound, serviceable animal for slow, light work, 
its sluggish nature, the result of careless breeding and rearing, 
unfits it for anything that demands courage or stamina or spirit. 

The varied uses to which horses are put has led breeders to 
develop special strains of horses that will best accomplish the 
special work demanded of them. 

*This colt was bred by Mr. I. Simons Harrison at his stud-farm 
in East Yorkshire, England, and it is due to his courtesy that the 
photograph is introduced here. 

Mr. Harrison says of him: "This colt is very handsome and 
racing-like and on good lines. I hope he may, with luck, make a name 
for himself on the turf." 




Figure 3. — The Coach-Horse Type. 
Courtesy of J. Campbell Thompson, Esq. 




Figure 4. — The Hackney. 
Courtesy of "The Rider and Driver." 



ELEMENTS OF B1PP0L0GY. 5 

For heavy draft purposes, the French Percheron and Eng- 
lish Clydesdale are the most distinctive types. The former are 
usually of gray color and the latter bay or brown. These are the 
familiar heavy dray-horses; they weigh from 1,200 to 2,000 
pounds, and are the most popular heavy work-horses in the 
United States. 

The English Shire horse is very similar to the Clydesdale, 
and the French draft and Norman horses to the Percheron. 
The Belgian and Flemish draft-horses are more ponderous 
than either of the above breeds, and for that reason, probably, 
have not caught the American horse-users' fancy. 

The coach-horses are bred for moderate speed, while 
drawing fairly heavy loads. They are over sixteen hands high, 
and weigh from 1,100 to 1,300 pounds. The best-known breeds 
are the English coach, the French coach, and the Cleveland 
bay. The last named is a breed developed in the United States. 
These horses are not pure-bred, but are carefully bred from 
selected individuals. 

The hackney is a breed of driving-horses of English origin 
very popular in the United States. They are stocky, strong, 
active horses, full of courage and good temper, smaller than the 
coach-horses, and much less rangy in build. Fashion demands of 
them an exaggerated knee action when in motion and a peculiar 
stretched-out pose when at rest. 

The hunter is a saddle-horse of good size, with a strong 
thoroughbred cross, good at jumping, and with excellent wind. 
There is no particular breed of hunters. They are simply se- 
lected individuals that have proven to be useful in cross-country 
galloping. It is performance that makes a hunter. 

The polo pony is another type of saddle-horse that depends 
absolutely on his individual performances to make him of any 
value in his class. Excellent polo ponies are bred from small 
mares of the mustang type by Arabian or Spanish barb sires. 







Figure 5. — A Hunter. 
Courtesy of "The Rider and Driver. 




Figure 6. — A Polo-Pony. 

Courtesy of M. W. Smith, Esq. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 7 

In the United States there have been developed three strains 
of horses that are worthy of special notice on account of the in- 
fluence each has had on the quality of the horses of the nation. 
These strains are the American standard trotter, the Amer- 
ican or Kentucky saddle-horse, and the Morgan horse. 

The trotter is the result of an effort to produce the best an- 
imal for racing under harness. The first horse to trot a mile in 
harness in less than three minutes was Yankee, who performed 
that feat at Harlem, N. Y., in 1806. It took a hundred years of 
the most careful breeding to pass the two-minute mark, and 
breeders are still trying to reduce the present record of 1:58J, 
made by Lou Dillon in 1903. 

The influence of remarkable individuals is singularly shown 
in the breeding of American trotters of record. In 1884 there 
were in the neighborhood of 6,000 horses in the United States 
that had trotted in races that were of enough moment to be re- 
corded. "Of these, a little over 1,700 are Hambletonians; there 
are 657 other Messengers, making a total of 2,369 that trace in 
male line to Messenger. There are 762 Black Hawks, and 453 
other Morgans, or a total of 1,215 that trace in male line to Justin 
Morgan. There are about 700 that trace in male line to Canadian 
sires, and the same number of Bashaws, with something over 300 
which trace to thoroughbred sires other than those mentioned, 
and about 1,000 whose tracing is not certain."* 

In other words, in 1884, seven of every twelve trotting 
horses of record traced back directly to Messenger or Justin 
Morgan, and the same proportion is probably still true. The 
greatest of Messenger's descendants was Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian. He was not a thoroughbred. 

The standard American trotter is a horse that has been 
bred for racing under harness. It is of comparatively recent 
date that any care has been taken in registering these horses. 

*From an article in " Spirit of the Times," February 14, 1885. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 




Figure 7. 



-Lord Clinton, Standard Morgan Trotter. 
Courtesy of J. Campbell Thompson, Esq. 



Any horse that was speedy, or whose sire or dam was a fast 
trotter, or pacer even, was admitted to registry in the stud-book 
of the National Trotting Horse Breeders' Association. This has 
resulted in the greatest confusion in tracing pedigrees, and for 
several years has not been permitted. 

The term " standard-bred" is now applied to trotting horses 
only that are bred to a certain standard of speed. The term does 
not refer to the blood of the horse, but to the excellence of the 
trotting performances of his sire and dam. The rules of the 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 9 

American Trotting Register Association, in whose records the 
pedigrees of standard-bred horses are kept, set the following as 
the trotting standard : 

" When an animal meets these requirements and is duly regis- 
tered, it shall be accepted as a standard-bred trotter: 

"1. The progeny of a registered standard trotting horse and a 
registered standard trotting mare. 

"2. A stallion sired by a registered standard trotting horse, 
provided his dam and grandam were sired by registered standard trot- 
ting horses, and he himself has a trotting record of 2:30 and is the sire 
of three trotters with records of 2:30, from different mares. 

" 3. A mare whose sire is a registered standard trotting horse, 
and whose dam and grandam were sired by registered standard trot- 
ting horses, provided she herself has a trotting record of 2:30, or is the 
dam of one trotter with a record of 2:30. 

" 4. A mare sired by a registered standard trotting horse, pro- 
vided she is the dam of two trotters with records of 2:30. 

"5. A mare sired by a registered standard trotting horse, pro- 
vided her first, second, and third dams are each sired by a registered 
standard trotting horse." 

The effect of this search for speed for racing purposes under 
harness has been to give to the United States a fine breed of 
light harness-horses. The standard trotter is not a saddle-horse; 
he is too rangy to be a strong weight-carrier, and too long in his 
stride to be a comfortable mount. 



AMERICAN SADDLE-HORSE REGISTER.* 

RULES FOR ENTRY. 
In Effect August, 1904. 

Rule 1. A stallion whose sire and dam are both registered in 
Saddle Horse Register is eligible. 

Rule 2. A mare whose sire or dam is registered and who 
traces on other side to registered or foundation saddle stock is eligible. 

Rule 3. A gelding tracing on either side to registered or foun- 
dation saddle stock is eligible. 

Certificate of Owner or Manager of sire that mare was bred must 
accompany all applications for foals of 1907 and after. 

* This is the form used to register American saddle-horses and contains the 
rules governing their entry. For a thoroughbred registry, the sixth dam must be 
registered to entitle the colt to be called a " thoroughbred." 



10 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

FEES FOR ENTRIES, ETC. 
In Effect from August 12, 1904. 

The fee for entry for each animal shall be $1.00 to members of 
this Association and $2.00 to non-members; but if not registered by or 
before December 31st next after being foaled, the fee is $5.00 to mem- 
bers and $10.00 to non-members, for stallions and mares. 

For geldings, any age, the fee is $1.00 to members and $2.00 to 
non-members. Fee must accompany application. 

Fee for transfers and duplicate certificates, 50c each. 

Six volumes of Register have been issued and they are sold at 
$2.00 per volume. 

FALSE OR FRAUDULENT ENTRIES. 

If any member of this Association knowingly makes a false or 
fraudulent statement in order to enter an animal in the Register, he 
will be expelled from the Association and his entry expunged. 

If anyone not a member knowingly makes a false or fraudulent 
statement in order to enter an animal, his entry will be expunged and 
he will be debarred from making entries in the future. 

FOUNDATION STOCK. 

The following stallions are registered as foundation stock, and 
will be recognized as saddle strains under the rules above: 
Denmark (thoroughbred), by Imp. Hedgeford. 
John Dillard, by Indian Chief (Canadian). 
Tom Hal, Imp. from Canada. 
Coleman's Eureka (thoroughbred — Morgan). 
Vanmeter's Waxy (thoroughbred). 
Cabell's Lexington, by Gist's Black Hawk (Morgan). 
Stump the Dealer (thoroughbred). 
Peter's Halcorn. 
Davy Crockett. 

Pat Cleburne, by Benton's Gray Diomed. 
Say whether stallion, mare, or gelding; 

Give the name and address of the breeder of entry, and of the 
sire and dam if known. 

If you think name you select may be taken, give second choice 
for name. 

Write Saddle-Horse Register numbers straight. Put trotting 
numbers in parentheses, h 

If there are no " distinguishing marks," write " None" in space* 
Address, I. B. NALL, Secretary, 

Louisville, Ky. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



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ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 13 

For a number of centuries in England, whence the larger 
proportion of our imported saddle-horses have come, saddle- 
horses have been trained to three gaits only — the walk, trot, and 
gallop. In the early years of the history of Kentucky, although 
the country was prosperous and its people rich, the roads were 
poor. The business of the State was done on horseback, and the 
demand arose for a comfortable saddle-horse. To meet this de- 
mand a breed of horses, now known as the American saddle- 
horse, was developed. The Canadian pacer, a horse descended 
from French and English stock, was crossed with the thorough- 
bred, and, by careful breeding, the present splendid breed of 
saddle-horses has resulted. 

They are medium-sized, well-built animals, of good color; 
kind, docile, and willing. They jump well and gallop easily and 
make ideal mounts for cavalry, but their chief distinction is the 
possession of a number of artificial gaits that add greatly to the 
comfort of their riders. 

These horses can be used as light driving-horses without 
injury to their gaits.* 

The term " breed," as used by the farmer, signifies a group 
or class of animals having a number of distinctive qualities and 
characteristics in common, and the power to transmit those 
distinctive traits with a good degree of certainty. 

" A breed is usually started by selecting two or more unusu- 
ally good animals from a group that has been produced in a lo- 
cality by reason of better food, environment, and intelligent se- 
lection, and which is usually superior to the animals of the same 
species in other localities. These few having been selected, in- 
breeding is practiced to a greater or less extent for the purpose 
of perpetuating and intensifying one or more desired character- 
istics. At first the work is usually carried on by one, or at most 
a few, of the most intelligent breeders, who, by improving condi- 
tions, have first improved the quality of their own stock. 

*The description of these gaits will be found in Chapter XIX. 



14 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

"It will be readily seen that when the attempt is made to 
launch a breed and establish a record of genealogy, or pedigree, 
for the various animals selected for such record, the first pedi- 
grees must be based on unpublished records. Not infrequently 
some of the foundation stock is recorded simply by name, and 
nothing is said of ancestors, because nothing is known of them."* 

From the above definition, the term "breed" can hardly be 
applied to the trotter, because the search has been more for 
speedy individuals than for a class of horses possessing special 
qualities. Until recently, pedigrees have been very loosely kept. 
The Kentucky saddle-horse, although his breeding has been con- 
temporary with that of the trotter, forms now a distinct breed, 
whose individuals possess the power of transmitting their dis- 
tinctive traits with reasonable certainty. 

The Morgan family of horses is, in this sense, not a breed. 
It includes the descendants of Justin Morgan, a horse foaled in 
1789, three-quarters thoroughbred, and of such remarkable vir- 
ility that his descendants to this day still bear unmistakably 
many of the qualities that made their great progenitor famous. 

The rules of admission to the Morgan Horse and Register 
are these : 

"1. Any meritorious stallion, mare, or gelding that traces in 
direct line to Justin Morgan and has at least one-sixty -fourth of his 
blood; provided the sire and dam were bred in approved speed or 
roadster lines. 

" 2. Any meritorious stallion, mare, or gelding having one- 
thirty-second or more of the blood of Justin Morgan; provided the 
sire and dam were bred in approved speed or roadster lines. 

"3. The produce of a sire and dam both registered in the 
Morgan Registry." 

As a business-horse — a horse of all work — the Morgan horse 
stands preeminent. No other stallion in the history of Western 
horses possessed the power of perpetuating good qualities to the 
the extent possessed by Justin Morgan. The distinguishing 

*From Chapter IV., "The Horse," Roberts (The Macmillan Compa- 
ny) , a most excellent and practical book, treating of the horse in his 
every -day aspect. 



16 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLUGY. 

characteristics of his family are: beauty and symmetry of 
conformation, hardiness, longevity, docility, willingness, and 
endurance. 

The light harness-horse and the lighter sort of work-horses 
in the United States are, in the main, mongrels. They are so 
badly bred, so crossed with conflicting strains, that little can be 
predicted of the quality of the average foal, based on the qualities 
of its sire and dam.* 

The Arab horse is the aristocrat of the horse world. These 
wonderful animals have been kept of pure blood for "a, known 
period of 3,500 years"f m "the deserts of Arabia. They have 
furnished the uplifting, ennobling quality which has been intro- 
duced in the blood of commoner horses from a period dating 
back from 1600 to 2000 B. C. 

Their influence is met with in the mustang of the Western 
plains and in the small Philippine pony, both degenerate Arabs, 
descending through the Spanish barb. Both are wiry, plucky 
little animals, showing little of the graceful conformation of 
their great ancestors, but much of their courage and endurance. 

GENERAL DEFINITIONS. 

The perfect male of the horse is called a stallion or an entire. 
When altered (castrated), he becomes a gelding. The female 
is a mare. 

The young is called, for either sex, a foal. Specifically, the 
male foal is a colt; the female a filly. 

A colt, or filly, becomes of age when the corner incisor teeth 
grow up level with the other incisors of the lower jaw, — about 

*This condition has been realized by the better farmers of the 
country for some years, and, due to this fact and to the efforts of the 
Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture, the 
quality of the cheaper grades of horses is being rapidly improved. 

tPage41/'The Arab Horse," Spencer Borden (Doubleday, Page 
& Company, New York). 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 17 

five. Fie is aged, under the racing rules , at seven, when he is 
considered thoroughly mature. 

The period of gestation is eleven months. The age of the 
horse is usually reckoned from the first of January preceding 
birth. For purposes of record, a thoroughbred foal becomes a 
yearling on January first after his birth. 

To aid in the recognition of horses, they are described by 
giving their color, sex, age, height, color of mane and tail, points, 
and by detailing their marked peculiarities. In this description 
certain technical terms are used : 

A snip is a patch of white (skin and hairs) on the nose. 

A star is a patch of white hairs in the center of the forehead. 

A blaze is a streak of white hairs running down the face, 
starting from the star. 

A horse is bald-faced when the star and snip are connected 
by a broad blaze. 

When the blaze does not run down the axis of the nose, it is 
termed a race. 

White hairs on the legs are almost always limited below by 
the hoof. They are described by mentioning their upper limits : 
white heels, white coronets, white pasterns. When the white 
color extends nearly or quite to the knee or hock, it is termed a 
white stocking (Figure 3). A white foot is, properly, one 
where the hoof, as well as the hairs near it, is white. 

A horse has black points when the mane, tail, and lower 
legs are black. If the mane, tail, and lower legs are the same 
color as the rest of the animal, he is self-colored. A horse is 
light of the sort when he is paler than the average for the color. 
It is usually a sign of constitutional debility. 

A mane is roached when it is trimmed close on each side, 
leaving a short, thin line of hair in the center about an inch long, 
running the length of the crest (Figure 4). It is hogged when the 
mane is cut closely throughout (Figure 3). 

—3— 



18 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

A tail is banged when it is cut square below the end of the 
dock (Figure 2). It is thinned when it is shortened by pulling 
and breaking, but not squared off (Figure 4). It is docked when 
the dock and hair both are cut off from eight to eleven inches 
from the root of the tail. 

A brand is a mark burned in the skin of a horse, leaving a 
scar of some definite design to establish ownership. 

Clipping is the process of shortening the hair of the coat 
by means of clippers. 

Singeing is the process of burning long hairs in the coat 
until they are the same length as the rest. 

Wire cuts are the scars of wounds made b y barbed-wire 
fences. They are characteristic in appearance, and frequently, 
by their location, cast suspicion upon the soundness of the an- 
imal. Usually the wounds causing them were only skin deep, 
when the resulting scars are merely blemishes. 

A rope burn is a scar or wound made by chafing the skin 
of the fetlock by a rope. Like a wire cut, it is usually only 
a blemish. 

The height of a horse is determined by measuring, in 
hands of four inches each, the altitude of the top of the withers. 
A full-grown horse, fourteen hands two inches high (written: 
14 : 2"), or less, is a pony. 

Generally speaking, a blemish is any irregularity that mars 
the beauty or symmetry of a horse, while a defect is one that 
reduces his usefulness. 

The forehand of a horse includes that part in front of the 
rider. The part in rear is termed the haunches. 

Of a pair of horses, the near one is the left, the off one is 
the right. The near side of a horse is his left side; the off side, 
his right. 

A sound horse is one that is not affected with any disabling 
disease or injury; an unsound horse is one that is suffering 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 19 

from any malady, acute or chronic, however slight, or that has 
been disabled in any degree by disease or injury. 

An acute disease is one attended by more or less violent 
symptoms and coming speedily to a crisis, while a chronic 
disease is one that continues a long time, mild as to intensity 
and slow as to progress. An acute disease results in a speedy 
recovery, or death, or it may assume a chronic state. A chronic 
disease is difficult to cure, and yields only to long-continued 
treatment. 

The Law of Warranty. — When a horse is purchased, the 
seller should furnish a bill of sale, setting forth the description 
of the horse and guaranteeing certain things, as, for example, 
that he is sound; that he is sound and kind; that he is serviceable 
for certain specific work, etc. 

This bill of sale is the new owner's guarantee of title to the 
horse. It also insures him against defects existing prior to the 
date of sale. 

A warranty does not go forward of the date of sale, 
unless it explicitly states so. 

If a person buys a horse that goes lame immediately or soon 
after purchase, he can recover on the guarantee only by showing 
that the horse exhibited the same lameness before the sale. 
Similarly with a horse warranted kind that runs away or balks 
after sale. Unless the, new owmer can establish similar vicious- 
ness before the sale, he cannot recover damages from the former 
owner. 

This arises from the fact that all that can justly be ex- 
pected from the seller is that he state truly in his warrant what 
the history of the horse has been, not what his subsequent history 
mav be. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 21 



CHAPTER II. 



AGE, AS DETERMINED BY THE TEETH. 

The value of a horse, after he reaches maturity, is propor- 
tioned to the remaining period of his usefulness. It is, there- 
foie, of importance to a purchaser to know approximately, and 
without being compelled to rely on the testimony of others, the 
age of the horse he is buying. 

It is very easy for anyone, however little he may be familiar 
with horses, to distinguish the young from the very old animal. 
Signs of wear are apparent in the stiffened action, in blemishes 
on the members, and, more than all, in the elasticity of the skin. 
Aristotle says: "If, in pinching up the skin from the lips, it is 
promptly retracted, the animal is young; if it remains wrinkled 
for a long time, he is old." 

Because the coat hides the skin, those signs of age that the 
skin betrays in hairless animals cannot be detected in the in- 
tervening years between youth and old age. For our guide 
during this period we must go to the teeth, which appear and 
grow and change their shape according to laws that are fairly 
regular. 

Up to five years the teeth give very reliable information; 
from five -to nine this information is good; after nine the limits 
of error increase rapidly, and little reliance can be placed on the 
teeth as a sole means of judging age.* 

*There are horsemen who claim to judge accurately the age of all 
horses, solely by their teeth. Such a claim, while honestly made by 
many competent horsemen of experience, is often not made good in 
practice. The teeth do furnish an excellent suggestion as to the age 
of the horse — good enough to protect the careful observer from impo- 
sition — that is all that should be claimed for them by the amateur 
horseman. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 

The back teeth, molars, are 
six in number on each side of 
each jaw; those in the lower jaw 
arejshown in Figure 10. 

In addition to these twenty- 
four molars, another molar some- 
times appears in front of the 
others, more often in the upper 
jaw than the lower, and rarely in 
both jaws. These molars are ru- 
dimentary and usually tempo- 
rary, appearing before the colt is 
a year old and usually disappear- 
ing before he is three. They 
sometimes remain indefinitely. 
These teeth are usually called 
wolf's teeth, but are sometimes 
called blind teeth, from a fan- 
cied influence on the horse's sight. 

The molars are difficult to 
examine on account of their loca- 
tion, and their usefulness as evi- 
dence as to age ceases at five, 
when all the temporary ones 

have been replaced by perman- 
Figure 10. — Ihe Lower Jaw- , , ,, , r J , ^ 

Bone in Plan, Showing Teeth .ent teeth, whose aspect changes 

slowly. 

The changes in the other teeth are quite regular up to that 
age. For this reason, inspection of the molars to determine age 
is rarely resorted to. 

The inspection of the incisors, the twelve teeth in the an- 
terior portion of the horse's jaw, is the usual means employed to 
approximate the age of horses. In inspecting them, the fol- 
lowing details are examined : 

First: Whether they are temporary or permanent. 

The common names for the incisors, naming them each way 
from the middle of the jaw, are center, intermediate, and 
corner. 




ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 23 

When the foal is born none of the incisors have appeared. 
About a week later the two center teeth are through the gums. 
In a month the intermediates appear, and after eight or nine 
months more, the corner teeth. These teeth are small, thin, and 
white, and of little interest as a means of determining age to the 
ordinary observer. Up to this time the colt's very appearance 
marks his infancy — he is leggy, small in the body and neck, his 
mane and tail are woolly and characteristic in appearance. 

For the next year and a half, to the casual observer, these 
teeth change but little; their grinding surfaces wear away, but 
they retain much the same appearance they had at one year. 
Because these teeth appear while the colt is still drawing his 
sustenance from his mother, they are called milk-teeth. 

Between two and a half and three years, the center milk- 
teeth have fallen out and permanent ones have taken their place. 

When the horse approaches a given age — three, for instance 
— he is said to be rising three ; after he has passed it, he is three 
off until he is three and a half; after that period, he is ris- 
ing four. 

The age of the colt at three is easily determined when we find 
the center incisors permanent and the rest temporary. 

At four the intermediate temporary teeth are shed and re- 
placed by permanent ones, and at five the temporary teeth are 
all gone. 

Figure 11 shows very plainly the difference in appearance be- 
tween the temporary (corner) and the permanent (intermediate) 
teeth. 

Simply by opening the colt's lips the observer can tell his 
age near enough for all ordinary purposes. As a rule, a horse 
less than five is not mature enough to be put to hard work; his 
development is not complete, and what would be quite suitable 
employment for a mature horse would probably prevent the 
full development of a colt and by so much destroy his future 
usefulness. 




Figure 11. — Temporary (Corner) and Permanent (Intermediate 
and Center) Teeth — Four Years Old. 




Figure 12. — Showing Angle of Meeting of Upper and Lower 
Teeth in a Horse Twenty Years Old. 




Figure 13. — A Parrot Mouth. 




Figure 14. — An Undershot Jaw. 



26 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

Sometimes the temporary teeth are pulled to make the colt 
appear older, and occasionally the corner teeth and intermediate, 
especially in the upper jaw, are shed at nearly the same time — 
about four. However, this is not the rule. 

Second: The angle at which the teeth of the two 
jaws meet. 

The younger the horse, the more nearly the angle made by 
the prolongation of the front faces approaches 180 degrees. This 
angle becomes more and more acute as the horse grows older. 
Compare the angle made by the outer faces of the upper and 
lower teeth in Figures 11 and 12. 

Third: Whether or not they meet accurately. 

If the teeth do not meet accurately, the tables of the teeth 
do not wear as uniformly as in the normal case and their ap- 
pearance is not a good index of the horse's age. 

If the upper jaw is longer than the lower one, the upper 
teeth will, when the mouth closes, project beyond the lower ones . 
This malformation is termed parrot mouth. The contrary 
case, much more rare, is termed undershot. The cuts on the 
opposite page illustrate each case. It is very difficult to ap- 
proximate the proper age of horses possessing either of these 
malformations, since the teeth, not meeting, do not wear away 
according to the general rule. 

The horse whose mouth is shownln^Figure 14 has the habit 
of biting at the woodwork of his stall, the picket-rope — anything 
within his reach. This habit is known as cribbing, and is the 
cause of the wearing away of the upper teeth. This animal was 
known to be between eighteen and twenty when this picture 
was taken. 

Fourth: The appearance of their outer faces. 

The teeth of a young animal show smoother surfaces (are 
less stained and chipped on the edges) than the same teeth in 
older horses. Young teeth are whiter than old ones, and have not 
such pronounced deposits of tartar on the margins of the gums. 
Compare Figures 15 and 16. 




Figure 15. — Front View at Four. 











Jt 










if.- J 




i ♦j. , ^^^B^^B 






\£J 


U| 






Vfe 





Figure 16. — Front View at Twelve. 



28 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



Fifth: The shape of the corner teeth. 

The tables of the teeth are the surfaces that meet when the 
jaws close. When the permanent corner teeth come up, at 
five, the profiles of their tables are right lines. The upper tooth 
does not, usually, meet the lower tooth exactly , but projects 
slightly to the rear. As the teeth wear off by grinding against 
each other, the forward part of the upper corner tooth wears away 
faster than the rear part, and a hook appears. This hook-like 
appearance is characteristic of horses seven and older, if the 

TWO CORNER TEETH DO NOT MEET THROUGHOUT. Tf they do, the 

teeth will wear evenly, and the profile will remain a right line. 
The hook is almost never present at five, is slight at six, and quite 
pronounced at seven. Compare Figures 17, 18, and 19. 




Figure 17. — Side View at Six. 




Figure 18. — Side View at Seven. 




Figure 19. — The Hook at Nine. 



30 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 




Sixth: The direction and 
length of the teeth. 

As seen in the cut, Figure 20, 
the tooth in its original shape 
curves more rapidly towards 
its outer end. The shape of 
the remaining portion of the 
tooth is not altered as the tooth 
wears off and is pushed for- 
ward. The height of the mo- 
lars remains fairly constant, 
and thus the distance between 
the jawbones at the outer 
end also remains constant. 

As the exposed ends of the 
teeth lose their curvature and 
the straighter portion of the 
original tooth comes into view 
with advancing years, they 
meet farther and farther to 
the front, and the visible por- 
tion of the tooth becomes 
longer. Contrast Figures 11 
and 12. At the same time the 
teeth become narrower in di- 
ameter, and so appear more 
closely bunched in the older 
animals. Contrast Figures 18 
and 23. The plumpness of the 

Figure 20. —Longitudinal Sec- gums is less in old horses than 

tion of Center Incisor. . - ^ , , -^. 

t» ur.*^T3TT j m .young ones. Contrast Jbig- 

Drawn by Capt. C. B. Hagadorn, * J ° & 

23d U. S. Infantry. ures 11 and 12. / 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



31 



Seventh: The mark, the dental star, and the shape 
of the tables. 

All the details above enumerated are preliminary to the ex- 
amination of the tables of the teeth and confirmatory of what is 
to be learned from them. 

The structure of the incisors is the same for all: A central 
cavity, the pulp cavity, containing the nerves, blood-vessels, 
and secreting tissues, is contained in the axis of the tooth. Sur- 
rounding this pulp cavity is dentine, a dense and ivory-like sub- 
stance, forming the body of the tooth. This dentine in the per- 
fect tooth 
has a deep 
hollow i n 
i t s outer 
end. Over 
the surface 
| of the tooth 
and lining 
the depres- 
sion in its 
outer end, 
is enamel, 
white, very 
hard, and 
of varying thickness. The depression in the tooth soon becomes 
discolored frornthe debris of decomposing food lodging there. The 
enamel that crowned the tooth at its appearance soon wears off, but 
the enamel on the outside of the tooth and that lining its central 
depression still shows in cross-section on the table of the tooth. 
The blackened spot in the center of the tooth, with its surround- 
ing ring of white enamel, is called the mark, and is present in 
every permanent incisor for about three years after its appear- 
ance. By this time, in the ordinary case, the grinding of the 
teeth against each other has worn off that part of the tooth con- 




Figure 21. — Cross-Section of Center Incisor. 
Drawn by Captain C. B. Hagadorn, 23d U. S. Infantry 



32 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

taining the depression, but for another year the discoloration of 
the body of the tooth, due to the chemical action of the contents 
of the depression, is still more or less visible. 

As the tooth wears down and exposes the pulp cavity, its 
secreting tissues deposit dentine to fill up the cavity, to protect 
the nerves and blood-vessels from injury. The dentine so formed 
is yellower in color than the original dentine of the tooth, and as 
the tooth gets more and more worn down, assumes somewhat 
the form of a star, hence its name, dental star. At first this 
new dentine appgars as a yellowish line in front of the enamel of 
the mark. This is because the pulp cavity is spread out quite 
thin near the end of the perfect tooth. It narrows and broadens 
deeper in the tooth until its final shape is circular. The circular 
shape is not found until the horse is about twelve, although this 
rule is extremely elastic. 

At three or four the observer can be sure enough of the 
horse's age without looking at the tables, but after that they 
should be consulted. 

At five the horse's mouth presents quite positive evidence 
of his age. Looking at the outer faces of the teeth, they appear 
smooth and clean. The edges are sharp; there is no hook in the 
upper corner teeth; the gums are plump; the horizontal and 
vertical axes of the teeth are not far from equal. Looking at the 
tables, the mark is found to be clear in all the teeth; the center 
and intermediate teeth show tables nearly rectangular in shape, 
and the axis of the tables at right angles to the jawbone is nearly 
twice as long as the other one. But it is in the corner tooth that 
the surest evidence is found. As the other incisors appear, at 
three and four, the mark is entirely surrounded with enamel, but 
the corner tooth comes up as a shell, with the inner wall missing, 
and not until the tooth has been in use for from six to nine 
months is the outer portion of the wall worn down to the level of 
the inner portion. This peculiarity of the corner tooth at five, 
once seen, "should never be*rnistaken. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



33 



At six the hollow of the mark has been worn off the tables 
of the center teeth, but the enamel is still there; it is discolored; 
and sometimes appears not very different from the marks in the' 
other teeth — a little less dark and its margin less pronounced. 
The mark is plainly present in the intermediates and corners, 
and the wall of the corner tooth is up all around. The tables of 
the teeth at six usually lose something of the rectangular shape, 
becoming more rounded on the longer sides. 

Looking at the exterior faces of the teeth, the hook is be- 
ginning to appear and the teeth are losing their fresh, clean ap- 
pearance. There is nothing positive to go by in the six-year-old 
mouth, except the presence of the mark in the intermediates 
and corner teeth, and even this is sometimes misleading. 




Figure 22. — The Tables at Five. 




Figure 23. — The Tables at Six. 




Figure 24. — The Tables^at^Seven. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



35 





mB^fSBS^MSHSSBSm' 






'-, 






jJHwHd^^ '• - t ;j' ** 


^^H 





Figure 25. — The Tables at Eight. 



At seven the yellowish line of the dentine that has filled up, 
the pulp cavity shows quite plainly in the center teeth and may 
show in the intermediates. The mark is gone from the center 
teeth and faint in the intermediates; it shows quite plainly in 
the corners. The tables are much more rounded in outline. The 
exterior aspect of the teeth is quite changed; they are much 
longer and their angle of meeting is more acute. The hook is 
now plainly visible, except in those mouths where the posterior 
corners of the corner teeth meet exactly, and it is the presence of 
this hook, together with the presence of the mark in the cor- 
ner teeth, that makes the seven-year-old mouth fairly easy to 
interpret. 

Dishonest dealers frequently rasp off the hook to make the 
horse appear younger than he is. 



36 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 




Figure 26. — The Tables at Nine. 



The central enamel is still present in all the teeth, although 
the discolored portion is usually worn off in the center teeth. 

At eight the mark is gone from all the teeth, although the 
corners are still discolored and the central enamel is found in all 
of them. The line of the dental star is better defined in the 
center teeth. The tables are more rounded than before and the 
line joining their centers is a flatter curve than in the younger 
mouths. A comparison of Figures 22, 23, 24, and 25 will show 
the gradual flattening of this curve. 

Viewed from the side, the angle of meeting of the teeth has 
grown much more acute than at seven. 

The principal test to be used in distinguishing between an 
eight and a nine-year-old mouth is to see whether the central 
enamel is gone from the center teeth. If it is still present, the 



ELEMENT 8 OF HIPPO LOGY. 37 

horse is probably eight; if it is worn off, he is probably at least 
nine. Just as the presence of the temporary teeth shows the 
colt-age, so the absence of the central enamel shows that the 
horse is more than eight — that he is " past telling' ' with any degree 
. of certainty. It is much more difficult, even with this central 
enamel as a test, to distinguish between the eight- and the nine- 
year-old horse than it is to tell a four-year-old from a five- 
year-old. 

In fact, it must be impressed upon all that there is no in- 
violate rule for the growth and wear of the teeth. Differences 
in the density of the dentine, differences in food and method of 
feeding, or bad stable habits, will cause teeth to vary widely in 
appearance in horses of the same age. 

At nine the tables of the center teeth are quite rounded, the 
dental star is much more rounded in them than before. 

From nine on the indications of the horse's age become in- 
creasingly Jess reliable.. Mayhew says: "The greater the num- 
ber of years, the more difficult it is to arrive at the exact determi- 
nation of the age. After the twelfth year there is but little prob- 
ability of judging it correctly; after the sixteenth, all is con- 
fusion, for there are no positive signs that will enable us to give 
a definite opinion upon this point, and it is better now to be 
cautious, or remain silent."* 

The amateur had better go farther than that and refrain 
from any positive judgment after nine. 

When the dental star becomes round and the tables tri- 
angular, the horse is probably twelve or more; and when the 
necks of the teeth become small and widely separated, he is ap- 
proaching very near to the end of his period of usefulness. 

In judging horses for age it is best to proceed leisurely. 
Open the horse's lips, and view first the faces from the side. 
Look for temporary teeth; see if the teeth meet evenly; see if 
the upper corner tooth has a hook; observe the plumpness of the 

♦"The Horse's Mouth," Edw. Mayhew, 3d edition, p. 104. 



38 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 




Figure 27.— The Tables at Twenty. 

gums; the edges of the teeth, to see if they are chipped; their 
margins near the gums; for tartar. Look next at the front faces 
of the teeth, and compare the relative lengths of the axes of the 
center teeth, remembering that the greater the disparity in these 
lengths, the older the horse. Next, open the horse's mouth, and 
look at the tables. The first thing to notice is the table of the 
corner teeth to see if the wall has grown up on the inside; look 
for the mark, the shape of the tables, the dental star, the curva- 
ture of the line joining the centers of the tables, and the slope of 
the inner faces of the teeth. If the mark is gone from all the 
lower teeth, look for it in the upper. The horse that has the 
mark in all his upper teeth is probably not very old — perhaps 
between nine and thirteen, probably not more than the latter. 
Beware of triangular tables; they are never found in the young 
horse — always in the old. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



39 




Figure 28.- 



-An Abnormal Mouth — Mark Clearly Visible in All 
the Teeth at Twelve. 



Having applied all these tests, reconcile all discrepancies as 
nearly as may be and make the estimate modestly, remembering 
that to be cock-sure in an estimate of a horse's age from the ev- 
idence of his teeth alone, is a sign of ignorance. 

, Figures 16 and 28 show the front view and the view of the 
tables of a horse known to be twelve at the time the photograph 
was taken. He was a restless horse, who objected to a scrutiny 
of his mouth, and the first hasty glance at the tables showed all 
the marks present and the wall of the corner teeth fully grown 
up. An observer, satisfied with that evidence alone, might say 
once, "Six years old"; but a more careful look at the shape 
of the tables would render that estimate very doubtful, while a 
single glance at the stained and chipped exterior, covered with 



40 ELEMENTS OE HIPPO LOGY. 

tartar, the long vertical axis of the center teeth. and their slope, 
would confirm the error. 

A horse's teeth are said to be bishoped when a hole in the im- 
itation of the mark is burned in his teeth. As the false mark 
cannot be surrounded by the enamel of the genuine one, and as 
the other tests for confirming the evidence of the mark will nec- 
essarily fail, the deception is easy of detection. It is a trick 
rarely resorted to. 

The tushes, or canine teeth, usually appear at about four, 
are usually perfect at five, and show greater or less signs of 
wear after that. 

They usually are absent in mares. This fact, and the un- 
certainty of the time of their appearance and their rate of growth, 
makes them almost useless as an aid to the determination of age. 
A bright, clean tush, showing little signs of wear, is a good index 
to a young horse; while a flat-topped, chipped, and yellow tush 
is a usual accompaniment to age. It is not wise to place much 
more reliance upon them. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 41 



CHAPTER III. 



INFLAMMATION.* 

In all the higher animals the tissues (bones, muscles, cap- 
sules, ligaments, tendons, glands, etc., — in brief, all parts of 
the body) are nourished and kept alive by the circulation of the 
blood. Blood consists of a pale-yellow fluid, carrying in it 
myriads of white and red semi-solid bodies called corpuscles. 

The red corpuscles, under conditions of health, very largely 
outnumber the white ones. They are without volition and float 
along, charged with oxygen to support life in the cells composing 
the tissues. 

The white corpuscles have a volition of their own; they act 
as the scavengers of the tissues. They have the power of ab- 
sorbing and of digesting other micro-organisms, and thus protect 
the body from disease germs. 

Blood, leaving the heart through the aorta, is carried by 
the arteries, branching and rebranching, to arterioles, which 
terminate in capillaries. The arteries and arterioles have im- 
pervious walls, but the capillaries, subdividing into a veritable 
lace-work, so as to reach the neighborhood of every element, 
have cellular walls, which permit the passage through them of 
the fluid and solid parts of the blood. In the capillaries the flow 
of blood is uniform, when in a state of health, towards the vein- 



*This subject is introduced at this point because it is an absolute 
necessity to understand, in a way, what inflammation is, what pro- 
duces it, and how to reduce it, in order to properly understand what 
follows. 

This chapter is adapted from the discussions of the subject, pp. 
487-493, in the chapter on General Diseases in the work of the Bureau 
of Animal Industry on the " Diseases of the Horse." The cuts are 
copied from cuts in that work. This is a work that should be in the 
hands of every horse-owner. 



42 



ELEMENTS OF HIFrOLOGY. 



lets— the termination of the veins that carry the blood back 
to the heart. 

Figure 29 shows, highly magnified, a healthy, living mem- 
brane of a frog. The broad band, aa, on the left of the cut, is 
a veinlet; c is a capillary. The lighter-colored disks in the ves- 
sels and in <5 
the con- 
necting tis- 
sues are 
white cor- 
puscles; the 
darker ones 
are red cor- 
puscles. 



Ordinari- 
ly, the red 
corpuscles 
float in the 
center o f 
the current, 




Figure 29. 



-Highly Magnified Living Membrane 
of a Frog, Non-inflamed. 

while the white ones, due to a certain volition of their own, 
float along near the walls of the capillaries. The nutrition, re- 
ceived into the blood from the digestive apparatus, as will be 
shown later on, replaces worn-out tissues. The oxygen of the 
red corpuscles is consumed in maintaining the heat of the 
body, and the blood flows on, taking with it the dead cells of 
worn-out tissues, the red corpuscles, largely deprived of their 
oxygen, and the white corpuscles, with their burden of absorbed 
germs, through the veins in a steady stream to the heart. From 
there it is pumped into the lungs, blue in color and exhausted of 
vitality, to be vitalized with oxygen and relieved of its waste 
matter. From the lungs it goes back to the heart again, purified 
and enriched, to repeat its function. As the result of repeated 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



43 



experiments, it has been estimated that it takes, in the horse, 
thirty-one seconds for the blood to complete this round of 
circulation. 

If the flow of the blood in the capillaries, for any reason, 
is impeded, the white corpuscles pass through the walls of those 

vessels and 
accumulate 
in the 
neighb o r - 
ing tissues. 
These cor- 
puscles pos- 
sess the 
power o f 
mult i p 1 y- 
ing indefi- 
nitely, and 
with great 
rapidity; 
the nucleus 
of one cor- 
puscle d i - 
vides into 
two, and 
each of these into others, and so on. The cells that largely 
compose the tissues possess, in a greater or less degree, this same 
property, and it is the accumulation of these minute organ- 
isms that accounts for the swelling that accompanies 
inflammation. 

In Figure 30 is shown, magnified to the same power as in the 
preceding cut, a similar living membrance, but inflamed. The 
multiplication of the corpuscles is clearly shown, and also the 
migration of the white corpuscles.* 

*Let it be understood that this discussion is the merest outline of 
the wonderful processes of nourishment and destruction of living tis- 




Figure 30.- 



-Highly Magnified Living Membrane 
of a Frog, Inflamed. 



44 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

Inflammation itself may be described as the perverted 
nourishment of any part. An injury, the presence of a foreign 
body, or some abnormal quality of the blood itself chokes the 
flow of blood through the capillaries and the veins. The heart 
keeps pumping blood into the affected region, and there is no 
corresponding drain. This excess of blood is forced through the 
walls of the capillaries, the tissues become overcharged with it, 
and the cells and white corpuscles, over-stimulated, begin to 
multiply. Crowding together, by their own numbers they soon 
deprive each other of the necessary nourishment, and they die. 
Other germs, less beneficent than the cells and white corpuscles, 
if present in the tissues, or if introduced by the cause of the in- 
flammation, take this occasion to multiply, to destroy other cells, 
and to die themselves in turn. These dead cells, corpuscles, and 
germs, suspended in the fluid of the blood, form the whitish, 
malodorous substance known as pus. 

Figure 31 shows a section of the uninflamed wing of a bat, 
much less highly magnified than in the preceding cuts. The en- 
largement is not enough to show the capillaries connecting the 
arteries and veins. The same spot in the membrane was then 
wounded with a needle, inflammation set in, and Figure 32 shows, 
under the same microscope, the enlargement of the capillaries, 
due to the increased flow of blood, and the accumulation of the 
corpuscles. 

Often there is an unnatural accumulation of blood in any 
part, caused either by an increased flow of blood to the part or 
by an obstruction that prevents the free exit of the blood through 
the veins from the tissue affected. This is called congestion of 
the part. In either case there is an increased supply of blood, 

sues; that it is very, very inadequate. The term "corpuscle" is 
wrongly used to describe all the bodies carried in the fluid of the 
blood and "cell" to indicate the atoms of which the tissues are built. 
"Germ" is used to vaguely designate those living micro-organisms 
that laymen should be willing to dismiss with the knowledge that one 
must be very wise to understand them. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



45 



-..,. 




w^^^'W ■ 




p 


* life 




^n V 


/TfP 


• 






'^C^ 




■ ■•y *i\ 
%< 1 f\. 



Figure 31. — Highly Magnified Section 
or the Wing of a Bat, Not Inflamed. 



and, as a result, increased combustion (oxidation), manifested by 
heat, and augmented nutrition, manifested by swelling. 

Pus may be confin- 
ed by limiting mem- 
branes provided by 
Nature to prevent the 
migration of the pus 
to sound tissues. 
Such a sore is termed 
an abscess. If the 
pus escapes externally 
from an abscess and 
the channel of escape 
is similarly lined by 
a limiting membrane, 
the channel is termed 
a sinus. 

Pus forming with- 
out such a limiting 
membrane invades the 
surrounding tissues 
and destroys them. 
Such a sore, when open 
is called an ulcer. 

Any injury or 
wound in which pus 
forms is said to sup- 
purate or to be in- 
fected. If the pus is 
absorbed into the cir- 
culation while the in- 
jurious germs are still 
active, abscesses are sometimes set up in organs distant from 
the original injury; at other times the infection attacks the 




Figure 32. — Highly Magnified Section 
of the Wing of a Bat, Inflamed. 



46 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

corpuscles of the blood itself, destroying them. In either case 
blood-poisoning is said to have set in. 

Sometimes the affected part dies. This is said to be mor- 
tification or gangrene in soft. tissues, and necrosis in bone. 

The local signs of inflammation are redness of varying 
degree, pain, swelling (except in bone), and heat. The gen- 
eral symptoms are fever and loss of condition. In aggravated 
cases the vital organs gradually suspend their function, and 
death from exhaustion results. 

The treatment of inflammation is the same in principle 
whatever be the part inflamed. Inflammation is hypernutri- 
tion, attended by excessive blood-supply. Any agent which will 
reduce the blood-supply and prevent the excessive nutrition of 
the elements of the part will serve as a remedy. The means 
employed may be used locally to the parts, or they may be con- 
stitutional remedies, which act indirectly. 

In the treatment of sick horses, as in the treatment of ailing- 
human beings, the administration of drugs should be sparingly 
resorted to by amateurs. Proper feeding and watering, cleanli- 
ness and sanitation in stables, and careful nursing, will keep 
veterinary bills down. 

Indiscriminate use of drugs is seldom beneficial or 
economical. 

In all cases of inflammation, seek first to remove the 
exciting cause. This may be some foreign substance, which 
irritates the animal directly, or it may be some decomposing 
substance, full of disease germs, in the stable. 

Rest is the next requisite. Motion induces an increased 
flow of blood, and blood supplies the food for inflammation. 
The patient should be in a darkened stall, free from noise or 
anything that will excite him. 

Cold and hot applications reach the same end by opposite 
means. Cold applications — ice-bags, cold bandages, fomenta- 
tions, etc. — contract the blood-vessels and soothe the nerves, 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 47 

while warm applications, either wet or dry, increase the circula- 
tion by expanding the blood-vessels, and so put an end to the 
congestion existing in the inflamed part. 

In cases of chronic inflammation, the surrounding tissues 
may have been left so weakened by it that they do not perform 
their functions properly. Then they need stimulating to allow 
them to recover strength by the application of liniments con- 
taining mild stimulants, or by massage. If this does not bring- 
about satisfactory results, a veterinarian should be consulted. 
Blood-letting, the use of severe counter-irritants — blistering or 
firing — or the use of strong tonics or stimulants, should not be 
attempted by amateurs. 

In all cases of inflammation it is of the greatest importance 
to limit the diet to small quantities of easily digested foods, 
freshly prepared and frequently offered. Food should not 
be permitted to remain before the patient long. If refused or 
only partly eaten, remove it, clean the manger thoroughly, and 
offer a fresh supply in a couple of hours. No invalid is more 
capricious about his food than a sick horse. 

When the tissues have been destroyed by inflammation, 
they are replaced by the formation of new tissues, different from 
the old in appearance and structure. This new tissue is called 
a scar. 



48 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE HEAD AND NECK. 

The relation of the bones to the soft tissues of the head and 
neck is shown in Figure 33. 

The face is that part of the head seen from directly in front, 
between the nostrils and the forelock. 

The forehead includes that part of the face between the 
forelock and a line drawn between the inner corners of the eyes. 




Figure 34. — Skeleton of Forehand. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY, 



49 



The temples are the regions at the sides of the forehead, 
between the eye and the ear. 

The nose is that part of the face below the forehead and 
above the nostrils. 

The cheeks are the two sides of the head, to right and left 
of the face. 

The muzzle includes the nostrils and lips. 




Figure 35. — Head of a Well- 
Bred Horse, Front Face. 



Figure 36. — Head of a Well- 
Bred Horse, Profile. 



The brain of a horse is very small, about the size of a polo 
ball. To destroy a horse by shooting, aim at the intersection of 
two imaginary lines drawn from each eye to the diagonally op- 
posite ear. If the revolver is held at right angles to the plane of 
the face, a shot thus placed will instantly and painlessly destroy 
the animal. 

In the well-bred horse the head should be of medium size, 
lean, wide between the eyes, fmely|chiselled and terminating 

—5— 



50 ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 

wide at the nostrils. It should be wide from the eye to the 
angle of the jaw; wide under the jaw, wide at the base of the 
skull (where the head and neck join). The nose should be 
straight; the nostrils large, wide, and without many hairs. 
The fleshy borders of the nostrils should be thin, firm, and 
sensitive. 

The ears should be small, fine, and nervously alert. In 
changing position from front to rear, they should describe small 
circles. They should not droop to right and left. 

Horses possess very acute sense of hearing, and the ears, 
large and funnel-shaped, locate the direction of the origin of 
noises by rotating until the maximum sound is received. "As 
flight (running away) is the horse's chief natural means of self- 
protection, he has great ability in turning his ears to the rear 
without altering the forward position of his head. In a pitched 
battle with carnivorous enemies, wild horses employ their eyes 
and ears, as a rule, in a backward direction, while using their hind 
feet as weapons of assault; and even when making a forward 
rush at an enemy, they almost always 'put back' their ears. 
The fact of a horse looking backwards is at once made manifest 
by his showing 'the whites of his eyes.' These actions of eyes 
and ears are so closely connected in the horse with fear and 
anger that he often performs them without any direct incentive 
when influenced by these feelings. Hence, all experienced horse- 
men regard an unprovoked putting back of the horse's ears and 
showing of the whites of his eyes as a reliable warning to 'look 
out.' " 

It is to be remarked that the signs of warning above men- 
tioned are usually accompanied by a contracting and flattening 
of the nostrils. 

The ill-bred horse shows a heavy head, narrow brain- 
space, contracted jaws, coarse throat-latch, and loosely hung, in- 
sensitive ears. His muzzle is set thickly with coarse hairs, has 
small nostrils, and too much flesh in the lips and margins of the 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



51 



nostrils. Nothing is clear-cut about his head. His general ap- 
pearance, when in repose, is sleepy and lymphatic; when in ac- 
tion, sulky and unwilling. 




Figure 37. — The Ill-Bred Horse, Figure 38. — The Ill-Bred Horse, 
Full Face. Profile. 

The eyes should be full, clear and bright, and symmetrically 
placed. They should not be watery; the pupils should be black 
and of equal size. The lids should be thin and firm. The eye, 
to inspire full confidence in the horse, should be large, prom- 
inent — to secure a large field of vision — and kindly in expression. 

The eye is a sphere, con- 
taining two chambers (Fig- 
ure 39) : one, the anterior, 
is filled with aqueous hu- 
mor ; the other, many times 
larger, with vitreous hu- 
mor. The lining of the pos- 
terior chamber of the 
retina, the development of 
the optic nerve. Between 
the two chambers is placed 




Figure 39. — The Eye. ix Cross- 
Section. 



52 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

the crystalline lens. In front of the anterior chamber is tha 
cornea. The cornea, crystalline lens, and the two humors, are 
perfectly transparent in the healthy eye. The crystalline lens 
is screened by the iris, a sensitive membrane that is pierced 
at its center by the pupil. The iris is capable of expanding and 
contracting, and so can regulate the supply of light admitted to 
the retina through the pupil. 

Looking closely into the sound eye, a fringe of sooty, spongy 
aspect will be seen, attached to the edge of the iris, heavier above 
than below. It is called the corpora nigra, and is a provision 
of Nature to partially absorb the light entering the eye and to 
supply the protection given to the human eye by the overhanging 
eyebrow. 

The pupils should dilate and contract equally and freely, 
The iris should be of uniform color. Frequently there is lack of 
color in the iris. The visible effects -of this condition is the 
whitish ring surrounding the pupil, known as wall-eye. 

An opacity of the cornea is a positive defect that limits the 
field of vision of the horse. Such a horse is usually a shyer, 
nervous and undesirable for any sort of fast work. 

The wall-eyed horse must not be confused with the horse 
that " shows the white of his eye," already discussed. In the 
ordinary case the white does not show, but an excitable, nervous 
horse, suffering from timidity or fear, will open his eyes unduly 
wide and so show the whites of them. It is a sign of nervousness 
or vice, or both, and, while often merely the result of brutal 
treatment, is always an undesirable quality. 

As a protection to the eye, to remove foreign particles that 
adhere to its outer surface, Nature provides the haw, a thin mem- 
brane that, in a restful state, appears as a thin fold at the inner 
angle of the eye. When the eye is irritated by dust, hail, chaff, 
or the like, the ball is slightly withdrawn into the socket and the 
haw is stretched across the eye, removing mechanically the ir- 
ritant, assisted by a profuse flow of tears, 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 53 

Blindness is common among horses. If it results from an 
injury to the external eye or from cataract, it is easy of discovery; 
if from disease in, or destruction of, the optic nerve, it is not 
so apparent. 

A cataract shows itself as a milky opacity in the interior 
of the eye. Its seat is in the crystalline lens or its coverings. 
What is known as the candle test is the surest method of de- 
termining whether an opacity in the eye is or is not a cataract. 
In a partially lighted place a lighted candle is held in front of the 
eye. If the eye is perfect, three images will be seen — one, the 
front one, erect, is the reflection from the outer surface of the 
cornea; the second, also erect, is the reflection from the front 
surface of the crystalline lens ; the third, inverted, is the reflection 
from the back of the lens. As the candle is raised or lowered, the 
first and second images go up or down, the third moves in a con- 
trary direction. If a cataract is present, the inverted image is 
blurred, or wanting altogether; if the trouble is in front of the 
lens, there will be but one distinct image. 

A good preliminary test for blindness is to raise the hand 
from below to the level of the eye and near it, then to withdraw 
it, but not so. rapidly as to cause appreciable air-currents. If 
the horse does not wink or dodge, there is grave suspicion cast 
at once on his vision in that eye. 

In order to give lightness to the head, and at the same time 
to afford room for the attachment of the various muscles of mas- 
tication, some of the bones of the horse's face are hollowed out, 
leaving blind cavities, opening only downward. These cavities 
are called the facial sinuses, and seem to have no function, 
except that mentioned. 

The neck includes seven of the vertebrae of the spinal 
column. The muscle that moves the foreleg forward is attached 
to the head and the first four of the neck vertebra?; the longer this 
muscle is, the greater will be its contractibility and consequent 
leverage on the bones of the foreleg and the stronger will be the 



54 ELEMENTS OF HTPPOLOGY. 

action of the limb. In saddle-horses, nothing is to be gained by 
increasing the weight of the neck muscles beyond that necessary 
to give a sure and graceful carriage to the head and a quick and 
free forward swing to the front leg. The neck should, therefore, 
be long and slender, without too marked a crest. (Figure 1.) 
The neck, at its upper end, should be spare and flexible. This 
condition, together with width between the jaw-bones, is neces- 
sary in saddle-horses; without it, they are stiff and unhandy. 

The horse shown in Figure 40 is an example of an otherwise 
good horse, spoiled by too much flesh in the neck. He has the 
neck of a stallion, and the inference is that he was gelded com- 
paratively late in life. Castration is usually performed when the 
colt is about one year old. If the operation is done, as is some- 
times the case, when the colt is very young, he is apt to be under- 
developed in the forehand when he is matured. If the time of 
castration is postponed until two, three, or later, the development 
of the forehand will more and more resemble that of a stallion. 
The operation is more easily and more safely performed on a 
young than on a mature animal. 

The excess of flesh on the crest of the horse in Figure 40 — 
thirty pounds or so — makes it impossible for him to handle his 
head and neck easily, and he is hard to turn or stop quickly in 
consequence. He is not a good drill-horse, although he has very 
comfortable gaits and is kind and willing. 

The horse shown in Figure 41 is a saddle-horse a de luxe." 
His neck is thick at the base, but it is light at the crest and tapers 
nicely. He should be able to control it easily. 

A ewe-necked horse is one whose crest is concave. 

The nasal membranes should be smooth, moist, of uniform 
color, and of a bright appearance. Any dullness of these mem- 
branes, any discharge from the nostril, and any ulceration, or 
scars of old ulcers, should be viewed with gravest suspicion in 
strange horse. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



55 




Figure 40. — An Overweighted Ne< 




Figure 41. — A Saddle Type. 
Courtesy of "The Rider and Driver." 



Glanders is a 
highly contagious 
disease of germ ori- 
gin, incurable, and, 
in this latitude, 
usually fatal. It 
is, of all diseases 
incidental t o the 
horse, the most ma- 
lignant and the 
most to be dreaded. 
It is highly conta- 
gious to human be- 
ings also, and nec- 
essarily fatal to 
them. In dealing 
with a case of glan- 
ders, the greatest 
care should betaken 
to protect one's self 
from the germs. 

If the glanders 
germ attacks the in- 
ternal organs of the 
horse, the disease is 
known as glanders; 
but if it attacks the 
skin or the vessels 
of the skin, the 
disease is called 
farcy. 

Glanders usually ■ 
manifests itself by a 



56 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

clear, watery discharge from one nostril, lighter in color 
than in the case of a common cold. "A singular char- 
acteristic of glanders is that it generally attacks one nostril 
only, and that is the left one; only a few cases having occurred 
where it commenced in the right nostril. Mr. Dupay, a cele- 
brated veterinary surgeon, and director of this school of sur- 
gery at Toulouse, mentions that out of eight hundred cases of 
glanders, which occurred during his practice, only one was 
affected in the right nostril." 

Farcy manifests itself in small tumors, soft at first, then 
breaking into an ulcer. "The farcy buttons occur most fre- 
quently on the side of the lips, on the sides of the neck, the 
lower part of the shoulders, the inside of the thighs, or the out- 
side of the legs, but may occur on any part of the horse." 

Farcy is always accompanied by the internal form of the 
disease, although the latter may not be manifested by the nasal 
discharge. 

In order to discriminate between glanders and other diseases of 
the nasal membranes, the mallein test is frequently resorted to. 
Mallein is made by exposing a pure culture of the glanders germ 
to dry heat sufficient to kill the germs. This dead culture is then 
treated chemically to preserve it and is injected hypodermically 
under the skin of the neck, usually, of the suspect. His tem- 
perature is taken twenty-four hours before the injection and 
again at the time of the injection. It is then taken every three 
to six hours for forty-eight hours afterwards. If the place of in- 
jection becomes materially inflamed and remains so for from two 
to five days, with an inflamed spot at least five inches in diame- 
ter, and a persistent rise of temperature of two degrees or more 
is noticed, the suspicion is fairly well confirmed. The animal 
should then be allowed to remain under observation in isolation 
for a month. If now the test is applied with similar results, the 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 57 

animal should be killed and burned and all his equipment and 
surroundings burned or thoroughly disinfected. If, however, on 
the second test he does not respond, a third test should be made 
at the end of another month, which may safely be regarded 
as final. 

Any horse presenting a discharge at the nostril should be at 
once isolated, and his stall and all his equipment thoroughly 
disinfected. 

Nasal gleet is a chronic diseased condition of the nasal 
membranes and of the linings of the facial sinuses. It is the 
result of neglected colds (bad stable management), or ulcerated 
teeth, and is a stubborn disease to cure. It is marked by a dis- 
charge from the nostrils, one or both, offensive odor, and fre- 
quently by no other outward symptom. Nasal gleet and glan- 
ders are frequently mistaken, one for the other. 

Influenza is a highly infectious disease, usually of- brief 
duration. True influenza usually spreads in waves of contagion 
over large areas. It is easily spread and difficult of treatment. 
The patient is stupefied, hangs its head, is not easily roused; the 
eyes become inflamed and tears flow profusely. It is frequently 
followed by disabling complications. 

Catarrh is inflammation of a mucous membrane. It is 
called by various names, depending on its location. 

Cold in the head is an inflammation of the mucous mem- 
brane of the nasal passages and neighboring regions. It is man- 
ifested by dullness, fever, a watery discharge from the nose, and 
sometimes by an inflamed condition of the eyes. The patient 
should be exercised very little, placed in a loose stall, well ven- 
tilated, but free from drafts. Like the human disease of the same 
name, the watery discharge, as the disease progresses, becomes 
thicker and of a whitish color. Colds in the head ought not to be 
neglected, nor should animals so affected be put to severe work 
until cured. 



58 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

Strangles, or distemper, also an infectious disease, mani- 
fests itself by catarrhal symptoms and by enlargements of the 
salivary glands lying near the angle of the lower jaw (the parotid 
glands). In the general case these glands suppurate and make 
an abscess easily recognized. An animal usually has this disease 
but once, and rarely after becoming of age. The danger from 
strangles is in the permanent thickening of the air-passages and 
permanent injury to the breathing apparatus in consequence. 

Poll-evil is an obstinate abscess on top of the head. It 
results from an injury received there, which sets up an inflama- 
mation that develops into an abscess. The muscles of the neck, 
in the region of the poll, extend downward and backward. Pus 
can easily burrow in between them and follow the course of these 
muscles. Since, from its position, such an abscess cannot readily 
drain its pus unless artificial drainage is provided, the pus will 
work down into the sound tissues, infecting them deeper and 
deeper. Any abscess where natural drainage is not possible is 
termed a fistula. Like other fistulas, poll-evil is the result of 
neglect. 

Blind staggers, or congestion of the brain, is a brain 
disease, similar to apoplexy. A horse affected with it will fall 
down and struggle about in a spasmodic fashion, injuring him- 
self in his spasm and threatening injury to any other animal near 
him. It is a not uncommon disease, and is liable to recur at any 
time. Relief is obtained by blood-letting. The jugular vein is 
opened, and, after a sufficient amount of blood is drawn, is closed 
again, leaving a scar of operation, usually not hard to find and 
always worth looking for. 

The jugular channel is well shown in Figure 8. It is a 
groove on the lower margin of the neck. By rubbing the thumb 
briskly several times down the channel with considerable pressure 
and then pressing hard at the lower end of the channel, the 
jugular vein will be closed by the pressure. It will fill rapidly 
from above with blood and will become distended. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 59 

The operation of blood-letting is sufficiently simple and safe 
to warrant any horse-owner to attempt it in cases of blind stag- 
gers or congestion of the lungs in emergencies when professional 
skill is not available. The flow of blood from a vein is easily 
controlled. By tying a stout cord around the base of the neck 
tightly, the jugular veins will be compressed enough to dilate 
them, when they are easily seen. The fleam-blade of a farrier's 
knife is used. The point of the fleam is laid near the vein and is 
driven into it by a sharp blow of a stick on the back of the fleam. 
If the vein-wall is cut, the blood will flow freely in a constant 
stream. It should be caught and measured as it flows. From 
two to four quarts should be drawn — never more than four — 
depending on the size and condition of the horse. A large, fat 
horse will stand the loss of more blood than a smaller horse in 
thin flesh will. 

The vein can be closed by sticking a pin through the walls of 
the vein at right angles to the cut and then winding horse-hair 
or strong linen thread around the ends, figure of 8 fashion. 

This method of closing wounds is a very useful one to re- 
member. A horse whose skin has been cut by barbed wire or by 
other means can be saved an ugly blemish, if the edges of the 
wound are at once pinned together, placing the pins an inch or 
so apart, and then lacing horse-hair or thread around the ends 
of the pins. 

In the jugular wound the pins should be left in only three 
or four days. The wound in the skin can be kept open by put- 
ting a plug of oakum or absorbent cotton in it until the pins 
a re withdrawn. 

Blood-letting should be resorted to, without professional as- 
sistance, only in extreme cases — when it is evident that the 
animal will die unless relieved. 



60 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



CHAPTER V. 



BITS— THEIR ACTION, INFLUENCE, AND 
PROPER USE.* 

A bit is an instrument devised to convey instructions 
to the horse from his rider in accordance with a set of sig- 
nals concerning his guidance and control, whose separate 
meanings he has been taught to know. 

The perfectly trained horse that has a perfect temper needs 
a bit that conveys these instructions without pain. Such horses 
are ; unfortunately, rare, so bits must be devised that not only 
convey instructions as to gait and direction, but that are capable 
of inflicting pain when the temper of the horse inclines him to 
disregard these instructions. 

The point of application — the seat — of the bit is on the bars 
of the horse's jaw, about one-third of the distance from the tushes 
to the molars (Figure 42). 

Figure 43 shows a simple bar bit in its normal position on 
the horse's jaw.f The horse's tongue lies in the opening be- 
tween the two rows of teeth, under the bit, and, at rest, fills the 
space under the bit and partially supports it. 

*An effort is made here to describe only the action of ordinary 
bits in common use, on normal mouths. The subject is a very broad 
one, and must necessarily be briefly touched on here. Captain M. 
Horace Hayes' admirable work, "Riding and Hunting," contains an 
exhaustive discussion of this subject. 

The author is indebted to Major Edwin St. J. Greble, 3d Field 
Artillery, for much that is contained in this chapter. 

fThe same bone furnished the subject for this picture that was 
used in Figures 42 and 44. To make Figure 43 and in Figure 44 the 
bone was set at an angle, so that the bearing of the bit would show 
as if seen from the front. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. Q\ 

The two ridge-likef portions of the bone of the lower jaw be- 
tween the molars and the tushes are called the bars, and form the 

points of application for the bit. 

As regards their action 
on the horse's jaw, bits are 
classified as bar, snaffle, 
and curb bits. 

A bar bit is an unbroken 
bit that acts, without lever- 
age, directly on the horse's 
jaw, as in Figure 43. The bar 
bit is supported partly on the 
bars of the horse's jaw and 
partly on his tongue. This is 
tough, leathery, and insensi- 
tive. When the pressure of 
the bar bit on the horse's jaw 
becomes painful to the bars, 
he relieves the pain by thrust- 
ing his tongue further under 
the bit, thereby lifting it from 
the bars and transferring the 
pressure to his tongue. 

To nullify this action of the 

tongue and still have a bit that 

is not, with proper use, exces- 

Figure 42.— The Lower Jaw-Bone sively severe, a hinge is intro- 
in Plan, Showing Bit-Place. ^ ^ ^ center of ^ ^ 

bit, and the resulting bit isr called a snaffle bit. 

By pulling on the reins of a snaffle bit, a pincer action is de- 
veloped by the closing of the angle between the halves of the 
mouthpiece. This raises the hinge, lifting the mouthpiece off 
the tongue, and applies pressure to the bars in a way impossible 
of relief by the tongue. 




62 



ELEMENTS OF EIPPOLOGY. 



The snaffle may be made an instrument of torture by jerking 
it or by " sawing" on it. 

Both bar 
and snaffle 
bits should 
have large, 
generous 
mouthpieces 
and should 
be very little 
longer than 
the width of 
the mouth, 
and should be 
s o adjusted 
that the 
mouth piece 
touches t h e 
corners of the 
mouth when 
no pressure is 
applied to the 
rein. 

The bar bit 
is more used 
as a driving- 
bit, the snaffle 
for riding. 
Both bits are 
manufactured 
in a great 

variety of shapes, each variation designed to defeat some de- 
fense developed by horses in an effort to avoid pain. The bit 



V. 



Figure 43. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



63 



shown in Figures 44, 45, and 46 is a very useful shape for a 
snaffle bit. 

The bit that has 
the least painful in- 
fluence on the 
horse's mouth is 
the rubber-covered 
bar bit. Theoret- 
ically, this is the 
ideal bit. 

Mechanically any 
bit not having lev- 
er action acts as 
shown in the accom- 
panying plates. 

I n Figures 4 5 
and 46 AB repre- 
sents, graphically, 
a force, acting 
through a pull on 
the reins fastened 
to a bar or snaffle 
bit, on the horse's 
jaw at A. Resolv- 
ing this force into 
its two components, 
AE at right angles 
to the horse's jaw 
and AD parallel to 
it, AE will then 
-n, tt ,, represent the actual 

" IGURE *ii . 

useful restraining 
force and AD the wasteful force, operating merely to raise the 
horse's head. 




64 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



The force AD acts on the corners of the horse's mouth, or 
on his molars. 

As a matter of fact, this lifting effect has a larger influence 
on the attitude of a young horse while being broken than in the 




Figure 45. 

The relative lifting and restraining influence of a pull exerted with 
the hands held low and the horse's head nearly vertical. 

case of an old horse whose schooling is over. The latter learns 
to meet difficulties of this sort, if not made vicious or sulky by 
bad treatment, and renders good service in spite of them in a 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



65 



manner that often surprises the thoughtful horseman. The 
theory that the horse is not a reasoning animal receives severe 




Figure 46. 

Distribution of the force exerted through the reins when the hand is 

held too high, or when the horse's nose is thrust to the front. 

tests in the cases of honest, faithful animals who do their work 
well in spite of impatience, conflicting signals, and frequently 
abuse. 

—6— 



66 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



/C\ 


,> 


'~Q*£ 


fVY i 


*P^0p^ 


j€/ 


■' ? "."' : -:"» '# - a ' 


; ■ 

f LOOP FOR UP SI 


•ft 

Pi g 




"V. r ~-: 


1 1 * 

lis 

1 i - s 


RING FOR 


REIN 


( '; ■ 1 s 




Figure 47. 



Figure 48. 



The curb bit (Figures 47 and 48) is a bit operating on an 
entirely different principle from the two other kinds just dis- 
cussed. In the curb bit the force exerted by the pull on the rein 
is increased in intensity by the leverage of the bit, and the pos- 
sibility of inflicting pain is greatly augmented. 

The curb bit consists of two cheek-pieces with a mouth- 
piece connecting them at such a point that the upper branch of 
the cheek-piece will be about half the length of the lower one. 
This ratio is by no means fixed, however. The upper branch is 
usually between one and a half and two inches in length. The 
mouthpiece should be large in diameter. It has a curved central 
portion, Jcalled the port. The object of the port is to take 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 67 

pressure off the tongue, when the bit is in use, and to localize it 
on the bars. The port, when the bit is at rest, lies on the tongue. 
When the bit is used, the port revolves upward and forward, 
away from the tongue, with the result that the insensitive tongue 
is freed from its influence. At the upper ends of the cheek- 
pieces are rings for the attachment of the curb-chain. This chain 
should be so adjusted that, when it is brought into use, it will lie 
in a smooth depression of the jaw-bone, called the chin-groove. 




Figure 49. — The Under Side of the Lower Jaw-Bone. 

The chin-groove is the rounded portion of the jaw-bone 
just forward of the angle of the V. In health, it is smooth and 
rounded, and admirably fitted to receive the pressure of the 
curb-chain without injury to itself. The two branches of the 
jaw-bone are very thin and sharp on the under side, where they 
unite to form the chin-groove, and it is, as will be seen, highly 
important that the curb-chain should fit into the chin-groove, 
and not lie on these sharp bones. 

There should be loops on the posterior edges of the cheek- 
pieces, half way from the rein-rings to the mouthpiece, to attach 
the lip-strap to. This strap is often necessary to prevent the 
horse from getting the lower branch of one of the cheek-pieces 



68 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



between his teeth or lips, and so defeat the object of applying 
pressure to the sensitive bars. 

The principle of the curb bit is a very simple one. The 
power is applied by a pull on the reins to the lower ends of the 




Figure 50. 



cheek- pieces. The point of the horse's head to which this power 
is transmitted depends upon the adjustment of the bit and curb- 
chain. If the curb-chain is too loose, the bit will revolve around 
the mouthpiece as a fulcrum, and the cheek-pieces of the bridle 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 69 

will receive the load and apply it to the poll. This tends to bring 
the horse's head down. The curb-chain will lie in a plane nearly 
parallel to the plane of the cheek-pieces of the bit, and but little 
force will be applied to the bars or to the chin-groove. The bit 
will slip up in the horse's mouth, and will be held either by the 
lips or by the molars. Such a bit is said to fall through, as in 
Figure 50. 

The objection to having the curb-chain too loose is that the 
power of the bit to restrain the horse, because of the pain it 
inflicts, is lost to the rider. 

The power is always applied to the curb bit at the lower end 
of the lower branch. Whether the bit is a lever of the first 
or second order will depend on where the horse feels the 
most pain when power is applied. 

If the chain is twisted so that it does not lie smoothly in the 
chin-groove, if it slips up on the sharp edges of the jaw-bone, or 
if it pinches the lips, the curb-chain will hurt the horse more than 
the mouthpiece does, and the lever will be of the second class. 
This is, of course, undesirable. The horse will try to get away 
from the curb-chain by throwing his head forward, and a " hard- 
mouthed' ' horse is the result. 

If the curb-chain fits smoothly in the chin-groove, if it is 
not so tight as to pinch the lips at all times, or so loose as to let 
the bit fall through, a pull on the reins will cause the mouthpiece 
to hurt the bars more than the chain hurts the chin-groove. 
The fulcrum will then be at the upper end of the cheek-piece,the 
weight will be applied at the bars by the mouthpiece, and a lever 
of the second class results. This is the proper adjustment of the 
curb-chain, and is what should be sought for. 

When the bit falls through, the mouthpiece is slid up along 
the bars to find a fulcrum at the corners of the horse's lips or 
against the molars. It often happens that the lips, that have 
wrinkled up by the sliding upward of the bit, are caught between 
the curb-chain and the mouthpiece. The result is that, in the 



70 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 




Figure 51 



effort to get ~away from the pain caused by this pinching, the 
horse does not notice the painless pull on the poll,tending to drag 
his head down, but does notice the pain to his lips, and throws 
his head forward to avoid it. Thus the pinching of the lips 
makes the bit a lever of the first class. 

When the curb-chain is too tight, so that it slips up out of 
the chin-groove to the sharp edges of the branches of the jaw- 
bone, the bit is said to stand stiff, as in Figure 51. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



71 




Figure 52. 



The horse usually opens his mouth when the bit stands stiff 
and sticks his nose forward. These actions should at once tell 
the rider that the bit is out of adjustment, and he should adjust 
it. The correct adjustment is shown in Figure 52. The chain 
fits easily into the groove, as the reins are tightened; the lips are 
not wrinkled or pinched, but the mouthpiece remains in its place, 



72 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 




Figure 53. 
Hands too high, ungraceful, and ineffective. 

an inch below, the corners of the lips. The bit does not revolve 
so far as to waste the greater part of the exertions of the rider in 
a painless pull on the head. 

In fitting a horse with a curb bit, there is no better rule to 
follow than is used in fitting a man with a shoe — try it on. If 
it pinches the lips, it is too narrow; if there is play enough to 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



73 




Figure 54. 

Proper position of hand using snaffle bit to minimize the lifting- 
effect of the bit. 



allow the corners of the port to bear on the bars as the bit slips 
from side to side, it is too wide. There should be just room be- 
tween the cheekpieces of the bit for the cheek-straps of the 
bridle, the curb-chain fastenings, and the horse's muzzle, with 
say a quarter or three-eighths of an inch added to prevent chafing. 



74 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

Before mounting a horse, the rider should always examine 
the adjustment of the bit with as much care as he puts in his 
inspection of the saddle. Whether or not the horse will be com- 
fortable — and if he is not comfortable, the rider will not be — 
depends largely on the fit of his equipments, and, more than 
any other single thing, on the fit of the bit and curb-chain. 

The snaffle bit and the bar bit as well, as we have seen, tend 
to make the horse raise his head. The hands of the rider, in 
consequence^ when using the snaffle, should be held as low as 
practicable to counteract this tendency. Figures 53 and 54 
illustrate this point. 

The low position of the hands does not influence the action 
of the curb bit, for the depressing action of that bit lies in the 
bit itself, and the position of the hands, within limits, has no 
effect upon it. The low position is much the more graceful, 
however, and, because the hands are nearer to a point of sup- 
port, adds to the security of the rider. 

The ordinary curb bit exerts a downward pressure on the 
poll, which increases as the curb-chain is loosened, allowing the 
upper branch to revolve further forward and downward. This 
is objectionable, but as no bit has ever been devised that removes 
it without introducing more objectionable features, it is a condi- 
dition that must be accepted for the present. 

The best arrangement for guiding and controlling horses is 
the bit and bridoon in common use among good horsemen the 
world over. The combination is shown in Figures 50, 51, and 52. 
This enables the rider to use the comfortable snaffle or bar bit 
for the ordinary business of riding. The curb remains always at 
hand, out of the way, simple, powerful, ready to control the 
horse in those rare moments, for the well-trained and well- 
handled horse, when the snaffle is insufficient. 

A Pelham bit is one that combines, in a way, the functions 
of bit and bridoon. There are many varieties of Pelham bits, 
but the main object of them all is to do away with the second 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 75 

mouthpiece of the bit and bridoon by attaching the bridoon reins 
to rings at the end of the mouthpiece of the bit. 

There are thousands of variations of the three classes of bits 
described in this chapter.* In all these variations the one ob- 
ject sought is to manufacture a bit that will control the horse 
and, at the same time, guide him. A horse is an animal of low 
intelligence; unless startled or hurt, he is usually willing to do 
as he is bid. When suddenly alarmed, his small intelligence is 
entirely absorbed in how to escape from the cause of his alarm. 
In such a moment his rider must have an instrument that, by 
the pain it can inflict, will draw his attention away from the 
thing that threatens to the thing that hurts. As a creature of 
habit, he has learned to obey certain signals in a set way; if the 
bit, while inflicting pain, also gives the signal he has learned to 
obey, he will instinctively obey it. Then the infliction of pain 
should cease. 

In selecting a combination of bit and bridoon, the bit should 
be powerful, but perfect fitting, and the bridoon as comfortable 
as possible, in order to let the horse know definitely the differ- 
ence between guidance and control. The guidance should be 
mild, the control absolute. 



*One firm in New York, dealing in nothing but bits, sends out a 
catalogue of over four hundred pages describing their goods, and 
several bits are described on each page 



76 ELEMENTS OP HIPPOLOGY. 



BITTING.* 



"I have nothing to say about the snaffle, except that it 
ought to be rather thick, so as to reduce its severity, and that 
it should be placed at about an equal distance from the bit and 
the corners of the mouth. 

"The form of a curb bit and the position it is placed in the 
mouth are points of great importance. It is impossible to de- 
cide at first glance what kind of a curb will suit a young horse 
best and what position it should occupy in his mouth. Baucher 
says that he would use the same kind of a bit for all kinds of 
horses, which statement is the consequence of his pet theory that 
all horses have the same kind of mouth. I will here content 
myself with saying that even the most inexperienced horseman 
will state that horses go better in one bit than hvanother, and 
that certain animals will go kindly in a snaffle, but will resent 
the use of a rather severe curb. This is a generally accepted 
fact, which has been amply proved. We can find the best curb 
for a horse only by trial. But there are always certain princi- 
ples to help us in making our experiments, which we may sum 
up as follows : 

"The curb which is used at the beginning of the breaking 
should have a thick mouthpiece, low port, and short cheek- 
pieces, so that it may be easy to the mouth. Its width should 
be proportionate to that of the mouth of the horse. If it is too 
narrow, the lips will be compressed by the cheekpieces; if it is 
too wide, the horse, either in play or to relieve the bars of the 
mouth from pressure, will bring it too much over on one side 
of his mouth, so that a part of the port will rest on one of 
the bars, and consequently the mouthpiece will exert an uneven 
pressure, which will almost always cause the horse to carry his 
head sideways. 

*From " Breaking and Riding," by James Fillis, pp. 10-13. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 77 

"In order that the curb may fit properly, it should be wide 
enough for the cheeks to keep clear of the lips on each side. The 
mouthpiece should have an even feeling on each side of the 
mouth and should be midway between the tushes and the corners 
of the lips, and consequently it will be lower in the mouth than 
the snaffle, in the case of a double bridle. Later on I shall point 
out some exceptions to this rule. The lower ends of the cheek- 
pieces, yielding to the pull of the reins, cause the upper ends to 
revolve forward, and thus to produce pressure on the bars of 
the mouth. The curb-chain, which prevents the upper ends of 
the cheeks from revolving forward, increases the pressure on the 
bars proportionately to its shortness. Hence, the length of the 
curb-chain should be proportionate to the lightness of the horse's 
mouth, which we are unable to estimate in the crse of a per- 
fectly green horse. With such an animal, we should at first 
leave the curb L chain very loose, as there will always be t'rr.e to 
take it up. It would not, on the contrary, be right to say that 
there is always time to slacken a tight curb-chain, which causes 
pain that will continue to be felt by the horse after the curb- 
chain has been let out. If, however, we begin with a loose curb- 
chain and gradually shorten it to the desired extent, we shall 
avoid hurting the bars of the mouth and irritating the horse to 
resistance, and we gain time. But if, at the beginning of the 
work, we hurt or even irritate the bars by undue pressure, we 
shall fail to obtain any of the required indications. By arti- 
ficially increasing the sensitiveness of the bars, we fail to es- 
timate it correctly, and work on a wrong method from the be- 
ginning. The bruising or even the mere irritation of the bars 
does not disappear as soon as the work is finished and the bridle 
taken off, but continues for a more or less long period. Conse- 
quently, when the next lesson is given, the bars are congested and 
painful. The rider will then be apt to form an opinion of the 
effects he produces on the mouth of the horse without taking 
into consideration that it is in an abnormal condition, and he will 



78 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

increase the evil which has been done, and he will become more 
and more unable to correctly estimate what is the natural con- 
dition of the mouth. In a word, he will do the very things he 
ought not to do. From the foregoing observations we can see 
that, at the beginning of the breaking, the curb-chain should be 
loose — in fact, it is better to take it off. 

' ■ The knowledge of the mouth of a green horse is an im- 
portant and delicate matter. In order to gently feel the mouth 
without spoiling it, we must begin with great lightness of hand, 
and gradually increase the pressure up to the point of making 
the horse feel it, which sensitiveness varies in degree according 
to the animal. If a horse yields to the light pressure of a curb 
that has no curb-chain, of what use is the curb-chain, and what 
is the good of seeking for a more powerful means of restraint? 

"I have thoroughly broken horses, not only for the manege, 
but also for outdoor work, without using a curb-chain, which 
may remain hooked up on one of the curb-hooks, so that it may 
be instantly used in case of need. As a rule, it should not be 
employed unless the rider finds that he needs its help. When 
he uses it, he should never put more tension on it than is actually 
required; the proper maximum being when the curb-chain is 
tightened up so that it makes an angle of forty-five degrees 
with the lower jaw. 

"As the tension of the curb-chain should be proportionate 
to the sensitiveness of the bars, so should the pressure caused 
by the pull of the reins be proportionate to the resistance. If 
this resistance is slight, the effort to overcome it should be light, 
and the point of its application should be high up on the jaw; if 
the resistance is great, the effort should be energetic and it 
should be applied low down. Therefore, without greatly alter- 
ing the middle position which the mouthpiece should occupy be- 
tween the tushes and the corners of the lips, we may raise or 
lower the mouthpiece so that the horse may yield his jaw by, 
respectively, a light feeling of the reins or by a strong pull on 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 79 

them. In other words, the softer the mouth is, the higher should 
be the mouthpiece; and the harder, the lower should it be placed. 
In no case, however, should it press on or even touch the corners 
of the lips or the tushes. 

"We learn from the foregoing remarks that the proper ten- 
sion of the curb-chain and the right position of the mouthpiece 
in the mouth of the young horse can be found only from ex- 
perience, which should be gained from very slight effects tha^ 
can be gradually increased in severity as the case may demand." 




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ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



81 



CHAPTER VI 



THE FRONT LEG. 

Beginning at the top, the bones of the front leg are named 
as follows: shoulder-blade (scapula), arm-bone (humerus), 

forearm-bone* (radius), the 
bones of the knee, cannon- 
bone (Figure 55), the splint- 
bones, of which there are 
two, one each side of the 
cannon-bone (A, Figure 59) , 
the sesamoids, upper and 
lower pastern-bones, navic- 
ular-bone, and coffin-bone 
(Figure 56). 

The joints are the shoul- 
der-joint, the elbow-joint, 
the knee, the fetlock-joint, 
the lower pastern-joint, and 
the navicular-joint. 

The external nomencla- 
ture of this region is shown 
in Figure 57. 

The shoulder-blade, which 
has no bony connection — no 
articulation — with the trunk, is bound to it by muscles alone. 
The horse has no collar-bone. Below, it articulates with the 

*The ulna, the upper portion of the forearm-bone, reaching from 
just below the elbow-joint to the point of the elbow, a separate bone 
in the co.t, becomes completely united to the forearm-bone in the 
adult horse. 

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82 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOQY. 



arm-bone at the shoulder-joint. Unlike the other joints in the 
horse's anatomy, these two bones are not bound together by 
numerous ligaments, but by one very strong enveloping ligament, 



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Figure 57. — External Nomenclature of Front Leg. 

which permits great freedom of extension and flexion, and some 
side-play. It is a very strong joint, and is not liable to sprain, 
except from external causes. In almost every case of obscure 



ELEMENTS OF HIPP^i^oGY. 83 

lameness in front, the trouble lies below the shoulder-joint. The 
point of the shoulder marks the position of the shoulder-joint. 
The shoulder-blade should slope well forward, towards the point 
of the shoulder, in order to insure a comfortable seat for the rider. 
The arm-bone articulates with the forearm-bone at the elbow- 
joint. This joint is a little below the upper end of the leg-bone, 
and the projection of the bone, above the joint, is called the 
elbow. In order that the horse shall be " handy" in front, or 
have a free action, the elbow should have considerable lateral 
motion. The absence of this condition is termed tied down 
to the chest. 

Sprains in the elbow- joint are very rare. All bones are 
covered with membranes that secrete either bony tissue or fluids 
needful to keep the bones properly moist. At the elbow and 
hock, these membranes are not covered by muscles, but directly 
by the skin. Inflammation, resulting from a blow to these un- 
protected parts, is not manifested in the usual way, but by an 
increased secretion of fluid, accompanied by a thickening of the 
skin and membranes over the injured part. This fluid is the 
same that is found in the familiar water-blister. When the elbow 
is injured, the resulting "blister" is termed a capped elbow 
(Figure 58). This trouble is found most frequently in horses 
carelessly or ignorantly shod, and stabled on brick, concrete, or 
granite block floors, and is due to the shoe, or the floor, striking 
the elbow when the horse lies down. It is sometimes called a 
shoe-boil, and, while easily removed, if taken in time, s till its 
presence argues some weakness in the foreleg that prevents the 
horse from easing down properly in the act of lying down; he 
brings his elbow to the ground with more force than a perfectly 
sound horse of good conformation should do. 

Between the leg-bone and the cannon-bone is a group of 
small bones, six in front, called carpals, and one, larger, in rear, 
called the trapezium (Figure 59). The joint formed by these 
bones is called the knee. It is a hinge in the continuity of leg- 



84 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



bone and cannon-bone, whose function is to enable <the foot to 
be brought forward without striking the toe on the ground, and, 
by the elasticity of its cartilages, to reduce the shock of impact 
of the foot with the ground. 

The trapezium 
is a bone placed 
at the back of 
the knee to af- 
ford a lever-like 
attachment for 
the tendons that 
bend the knee. 
The carpal-bones 
are arranged in 
two layers, three 
in a layer. The 
upper three ar- 
ticulate, with 
thick cartilages 
between, with 
the leg- bone. 
The lower three 
carpals rest on 
the metacar- 
pals, of which 
there are three. 
One, the great 
metacarpal, or 
cannon -bone, 
continues the 
bony column to- 
wards the foot. The other two, on either side of the cannon- 
bone, are rudimentary, and are called splint bones (Figure 59 A). 




Figure 58. — Capped Elbow. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



85 



When viewed from the front or side, the knee should be 
broad; wedge-shaped, when viewed from the rear. 

The leg below the knee 
should not become rapid 
ly smaller, but should ta- 
per gradually towards 
the upper pastern-joint. 
When it is decidedly 
smaller just below the 
knee, the horse is said 
to be tied in below the 
knee. 

Horses that are knee- 
tied usually owe that de- 
fect to a small trapezium. 
This makes them defici- 
ent in power where it is 
very necessary. 

Any wound or injury 
to the knee caused by a 
horse falling on his knees 
is called a broken knee, 
whether the skin is merely 
broken, or the bones shat- 
tered (Figure 60). It is 
as living motive-power 
that a horse is valuable. 

Anything that brings 
To illustrate the position of the splint- • ,. ,, ,. .... 

bone. A, with reference to the bones of the ln question the reliability 
knee, the cannon-bone, B, and the tendons of the columns through 
of the foot. i . i ,i. 

which this power is ex- 
erted — his legs — or the pilot that governs the direction of its 
application — his sight — is of the highest importance to investi- 
gate. For that reason it is important to know whether or not 




Figure 59. 



86 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



a horse is sure on his front feet. Broken knees are a sign of a 
failure at some time in his history ; hence a most careful scrutiny 
of the front faces of his knees should be made.^ 

It often happens that a horse falls and bruises his knee in a 
perfectly innocent way, but such happenings are rare. As a 
rule, the fall is due 
to some defect in 
the horse himself. 
The would-be pur- 
chaser is wise who 
rejects finally any 
horse with broken 
knees. 

The back tend- 
ons, leading from 
the trapezium t o 
the pastern, when 
strained, are causes 
of lameness. This 
strain occurs more 
often in saddle 
horses that are gal- 
loped when tired. 
It is noticeable by 
an enlargement of 
the tendon, or its 
sheath, below the 
knee, usually nearer 
the knee than the 
pastern, and a tendency to keep the knees bent forward when 
at rest, to ease the strain on those tendons. 

A tendon is a dense, fibrous tissue that connects a muscle 
with a bone. Its function is to transmit the energy developed 
by the contraction of the muscle to the bone. 




Figure 60. — Broken Knees. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 87 

A ligament is also a dense, fibrous tissue, and serves to bind 
two bones, usually, together. Tendons are usually of the shape 
of ropes, and do their work, while ligaments are of a variety of 
shapes. The ligament that binds the shoulder-blade to the arm- 
bone, at the shoulder- joint is like a broad, enveloping bandage. 
The ligaments joining the head and withers of a horse and sup- 
porting the vertebras of the neck resemble closely the cable and 
supporting rods of a suspension-bridge. The bones of the knee - 
and the hock are held in place by numerous ligaments of a variety 
of shapes, while the ligament that supports the contents of the 
abdomen, hung between the ribs, the hips, and the under side of 
the pelvis, is shaped like a hammock. 

A cartilage is a dense, highly elastic substance that envelops 
the ends of bones at joints. 

There is no room for muscles between the knee, or the hock, 
and the ground. The space between the skin and the bones is 
filled with tendons, reaching from the muscles of the shoulder 
and arm to their attachments on the cannon-bone, pastern, and 
foot, with ligaments binding the bones together, the sheaths of 
these tendons and ligaments and the nerves, blood and other 
vessels supplying the lower leg and foot. All these tissues are 
compact, lying closely together. They should be cool to the 
touch, smooth and firm. Any pumness, any undue heat, any 
sensitiveness or roughness are sure signs of disease. 

Often when a horse is idle and is over-fed, his legs will swell 
and will become feverish and painful. The animal will move in 
a stilty, stiff way. This lameness will disappear with proper 
feeding and exercise, and it should not be confused with the 
lameness resulting from ligaments or tendons strained from 
overwork. 

In the young horse the three metacarpals are separateb ones. 
Due to injury, or conformation, or improper shoeing, or over- 
work, these bones throw out bony deposits that graduallyu nite 
them. _In the aged horse this union is a normal condition, and, 



88 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

if the bony tumor marking the union is not so high as to inter- 
fere with the action of the carpals, or far enough back to inter- 
fere with the action of the tendons and the suspensory ligaments, 
no harm results. This is the simple splint (Figure 61). 

A beaded splint is a series of two or more such enlargements, 
running down the splint-bone. 

If the bony deposit spreads to the back of the cannon-bone 
and across it to the splint-bone on the other side, it is called a 
pegged splint. This is its worst form, is incurable, and results 
in chronic lameness. 

If the bony growth encroaches upon the carpals, or inter- 
feres with the tendons or ligaments, serious lameness, usually 
incurable, results. 

In Figure 59 the position of the splint-bone, A, with respect 
to the knee-bones, the tendons in rear, and the cannon-bone,. 
B, is clearly shown. The tendons, when the horse is in motion, 
are in constant motion up and down. They are immensely 
strong, inelastic tissues, covered with delicate membranes that 
supply the lubricants necessary to permit them to slip easily 
and freely. 

Any bony growth on the rear of the splint-bonew ill inter- 
fere with this ease of movement, and the roughness of the bony 
tumors will lacerate and inflame the sheaths of the tendons. 

If the bony tumor encroaches on the knee-bones, it is seen 
easily that much damage will result. 

If, however, the union between the bones A and B is effected 
by a growth between the bones and to the front, there is no 
moving tissue that is interfered with,and lameness will not result. 

The extremely large splint shown in Figure 61 has appar- 
ently not inconvenienced the horse in the least. 

A wound on the upper end of the inside splint at A, Figure 
59, caused by the shoe of the other front foot striking it at high 
gaits, is called speedy cut. This is a very serious defect. The 
interference that causes it happens only at high speed; the pain 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



89 



resulting is very great, sufficient often to bring the animal to his 
knees, and to cause deplorable accidents. 

The line of the foreleg should be nearly straight, the cannon- 
bone prolonging the radius. If this line bends forward, the 

horse stands over 
at the knees; if it 
bends back, he is 
calf-kneed. The 
former is a sign of 
muscular deficiency 
— lack of power. 
A calf-kneed horse, 
if put to hard work, 
is apt to strain the 
tendons or liga- 
ments. 

The fetlock 
should be small — 
not as broad as the 
knee when viewed 
from the front, nor 
any broader when 
taken in profile — 
it should be flat 
from side to side. 

The skin should 

be closely drawn 

without puffiness, 

and the joint should 

b? clean cut. 

Wind-galls, due 

to enlargement of the membrane secreting the lubricant for the 

joint, and containing it, and caused by violent exertion or 

overwork (Figure 63) are often found at the fetlock and ankle. 




Figure 61. — Stmple Splint. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



91 



If they are soft to the pressure of the finger, and cool, they are 
little more than blemishes; if they are soft and hot, indicating 
inflammation, they are the result of a strain to one of the ten- 
dons; if hard and inflamed, they result^from some injury to the 

bone or its 
covering . 
Both of these 
two latter con- 
ditions are 
serious and 
demand a t - 
tent ion. 

Under the 
back part of 
the fetlock is a 
horny growth, 
called the 
ergot. It 
seems, like 
the other hor- 
n y growth 
higher up on 
the inside of 
the radius, 
call e d the 
chestnut 
(Figure 7 2), 
to be of no 
functionalval- 
ue. Any bony 
deposit upon 
the pastern 

bones is termed a ringbone. If the deposit is above the joint 
between the two pastern-bones, it is a high ringbone. This 




Figure 63. — Wind-Galls. 



92 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



is its most common form, and is easily detected. If the ring- 
bone is confined to the side of the joint, it is less serious than if 
it extends to the back or front of the joint, when an incurable 
lameness results. Most serious of all is the low ringbone, which 
involves the joints between the lower pastern-bone and its neigh- 
bors. This is difficult for the amateur to detect, as it is gen- 
erally contained within the hoof. 

Sidebones are 
bony enlargements 
in the heels, show- 
ing just above the 
hoof. 

The pastern 
should slope well 
from the rear to 
the front, and 
should be very elas- 
tic in action. Too 
great a slope causes 
undue tension on 
the tendons and 
ligaments. About 
forty-five degrees 
of slope is best. 
More slope than 
that would indicate 
weakness i n this 
part. The slope of 
the pastern is de- 
termined by the length of the upper pastern-bone;— the longer 
the bone, the greater the slope, and the reverse. A short, up- 
right , pastern is an almost invariable sign of a rough saddle- 
horse. 




hifldmerf lat- 
eral r/rf!</(i<j( 



Figure 64 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 93 

The principal function of the foreleg is to support weight, 
to carry the forehand and its load ahead and out of the way of 
the propelling haunches. It must be so shaped that it can per- 
form this work without injury to itself and carry its load as 
nearly level as possible. 

Elasticity in carrying its load is secured through the car- 
tilages and muscles. The shock of impact is transmitted at each 
joint, partly to the bone above the joint and partly to the 
muscles controlling the bone below it, through the tendons con- 
necting them. The smaller the angle between two adjoining 
bones, the greater will be the portion of the shock transmitted 
to the muscles. In the foreleg, three joints are between bones 
inclining more or less to each other — the fetlock-joint, the elbow, 
and the shoulder-joint. If the upper pastern-bone is long, it 
will slope well from the cannon to the hoof; if it is short, it will 
stand straight. Similarly, a short arm-bone will bring the point 
of the shoulder nearer the elbow and straighten the shoulder- 
blade. 

The foreleg of the camel is straight from the foot to the 
upper end of the shoulder-blade. Consequently, the shock of 
impact is carried to the shoulder muscles, lessened only by the 
elasticity of the cartilages between the bones. As a result, the 
camel is the most uncomfortable saddle-animal known. 

The slope of the shoulder should be about forty-five degrees 
and that of the pastern about the same. The horse shown in the 
half-tone on the following page may be taken as a model of con- 
formation. His shoulder-blade slopes at the proper angle, and 
is very long. His forearm is very long, jand strongly muscled. 
His elbow, knee, and pastern are smooth, clean-cut joints. The 
cannon is short and prolongs the forearm. 

A straight shoulder and a straight, short pastern should be 
avoided. The horse will not only be uncomfortable to ride, but 
he will " pound' ' himself at the faster gaits and become lame from 
the concussion. 



94 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



Splints, sprained tendons and ligaments, ringbones, side- 
bones, wind-galls, and most of the diseases of the feet are due to 
this concussion.' 




Figure 65. — A Model of Conformation. 
From the painting by Otto Eerelman. 



ELEMEXTS OF EIPPOLOGT. 07 



CHAPTER VII, 



THE BACK. 

The back is mainly of interest because it furnishes the posi- 
tion of the saddle, and it is necessary to know something of its 
anatomy to be able to place the saddle and its load so they will 
not injure it . 

The bones of the back are eighteen vertebrae of the spinal 
column, and the ribs. The first eight of these vertebra?, with 
their muscu".; . rings, are called, taken collectively, the 

withers The upper spines ;: six or seven, usually, of these 
bones are much longer, as can be seen in Figure 67. than on any 
of the others, and they furnish points of attachment for the sus- 
pensory ligament of the neck and for several important mus sfes 
of the back, shoulder, and ril - 

In front of the haunch-bone are six sailed :^e 

lumbar vertebrae ; they slope towards the front. All the ve 1 - 

bra? of the back are well padded with muscles on the sides, but 

close to the skin on top. and these upper extremities 

must be refully y ■ from any pressure. 

Looking at Figure 66. the mnsek ^ ;: ■ - :o be 

broad and long. These muscles have slight motions they ue 
several inches thick, and are admirably adapted to receive the 
saddle and its load, provided the lo: s pt of! the spinal 
column and is evenly distributed. 

each side of the withers, a little lower than their 
lie the upper ends of the shoulder-', fas Ehese bones ue 
tipped with a broad, thick band of caitib r e — indicated in Fig 
67 — to protect the bone itself from inj;: 
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ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 99 

The shoulder-blade, as has been said, has no bony union 
with the spinal column. It is simply bound on the ribs and 
spinal column by a number of very strong muscles that control 
its movements. The center of its motion is about one-third its 
length from the upper end. When the foot is brought forward, 
the lower end of the shoulder-blade swings forward and upward, 
around this center of motion, and the upper end swings back- 
ward and downward. 

The saddle must be so placttl as not to interfere with the 
free play of this bone. It has been found that if the front of the 
side-bar of the McClellan saddle is placed so that three fingers 
can be laid between it and the shoulder-blade when the horse is 
standing, the play of the bone will not be interfered with. 

The saddle in ordinary use for pleasure-riding does not need 
to be built to carry any load but the rider. It has a very small, 
rigid frame, called the tree, is carefully and thoroughly pad- 
ded, and needs no blanket or pad under it to protect the horse's 
back. A leather sweat-pad, called the numnah, should be used 
under it to protect its padding from becoming ruined by sweat, 

These saddles should be padded to fit each particular horse, 
and should not be used on another horse. If this precaution is 
taken, the saddle will naturally fall on its proper place and will 
stay there. As long as the padding is good and the numnah 
kept clean, there is small danger of injury being done to the 
horse's back. 

The McClellan saddle, however, must often be changed from 
one horse to another. Its tree is larger and its bearing surface 
considerable to provide points of attachment for the packs that, 
from time to time, must be fastened to the pommel and cantle. 
The horse's back is protected by a folded woolen blanket. 

This blanket must be folded very carefully; no wrinkles 
should be allowed, nor any dirt or other foreign substances, in any 
of its folds. Anything that causes undue pressure on any spot 
under the saddle will compress the capillaries of that spot and 

LOFC 



100 ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 

prevent it from receiving the supply of blood necessary to keep 
it built up. If this pressure is sufficient to chafe the skin, the 
resulting wound is very liable to become infected, as the woolen 
blanket, impregnated with sweat, is a favorable place for the 
growth of microbes. If the skin is not broken, when the pressure 
is removed the spot affected will immediately become inflamed, 
and a sore will probably result, under the skin, that will, unless 
taken properly in hand, finally destroy the skin over it, and be- 
come an open sore. In either case the horse is said to have, first, 
a saddle-gall ; then, if this is neglected, it becomes a sore back. 
If this sore back is along the ridge of the back-bone, the pus 
cannot easily be drained; it may make sinuses along the spines 
of the vertebrae, and a fistula results. 

Another serious result of a neglected sore back comes when 
the sore practically heals. Active suppuration has then ceased, 
and the wound heals over imperfectly, leaving a dead, hard 
piece of skin over the sore, itself covered by a thick scab. An 
inert abscess is left under the skin, which breaks out when pressure 
is again applied to it. This is a sitfast, an obstinate, trouble- 
some sore, that needs constant watching. 

If there is time to devote to it, the sitfast should be cut out 
and the wound compelled to heal slowly, • filling up from the 
bottom with sound tissue. 

When the saddle is first removed, the horse's back should 
be carefully looked over. If any chafed places or inflamed spots 
are noticed they should be washed clean and briskly rubbed for 
fifteen or twenty minutes to restore a healthy circulation. Fo- 
menting the back with warm water, carefully drying it before 
leaving it, is also an excellent treatment. The under side of the 
blanket should be inspected, to locate the cause of the trouble, 
and the greatest care should be taken, when the horse is next 
saddled, to keep all pressure from the sore spot. This can be 
affected by cutting a hole in the blanket over the sore, saddling 
carefully, and adjusting the blanket at every halt. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 101 

A saddle-horse should have a flat back, moderately high 
withers, not too thick, and a sloping shoulder. Figure 65 shows 
an excellent back. The shoulder is especially good. A long, 
sloping shoulder, reaching out well in front of the rider, gives 
him a feeling of security that he cannot have if the shoulder 
ends near his own knee. 

The muscles that pull the shoulder-blade forward are at- 
tached to the poll and upper four neck vertebrae; the ones that 
draw it back are attached to the dorsal and lumbar vertebrae 
and the first eight ribs. This explains why a horse that is down 
can be kept down by raising his head and bending it back to- 
wards his shoulder. The neck muscles that move the shoulder- 
blade forward— and hence the whole leg — are incapable of acting. 
If a horse cannot move his foreleg forward when he is down, to 
get a bearing, he cannot rise. 

High withers, extending well back, are generally associated 
with long necks, long and sloping shoulder-blades, and powerful 
back muscles. Low withers are generally found on animals 
with short necks and straight shoulder-blades. The withers 
should not be too fleshy and thick. 

The two horses shown in Figures 69 and 70 have each very 
prominent withers. The one in Figure 69 has very thin withers, 
and his back slopes too much from the croup. The result is that 
the saddle could not be kept from chafing the top of his withers, 
which were always sore after a ride. He was, in consequence, 
not for duty most of the time, and had to be sold as unfit for 
saddle purposes. 

While he was a coarse, ill-looking animal, still he was very 
strong, active, and comfortable to ride, and, aside from his sore 
withers, perfectly sound when sold. But for that defect he 
would have given many years of useful service. 

The horse shown in Figure 70 is a useful specimen of what is 
termed the general-purpose horse; he is equally good to ride or 
to drive. He has a strong strain of the American saddle-horse 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



103 




Figure 70. — A Useful Specimen. 



with a thoroughbred cross. He is a fine saddler, drives well, 
single or double, is not dainty with his food, and thrives well in 
the field. He has been ridden by an officer for ten years, and is 
as good as ever. 

His withers are as high as those of the horse in Figure 69, 
but not so thin, and his barrel is longer and more cylindrical. 
The saddle, if placed off the withers on saddling, will stay there 
with very little watching. He is not shown as a perfect model, 
but as an example of an extremely useful individual, in spite of 
what might seem serious defects in conformation. 



104 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 




Figure 71. — Nearly Everything Wrong. 



The horse shown in Figure 71 has been several years at the 
Military Academy. His withers are much too thin and prom- 
inent, but are kept from ever getting sore, because it is impos- 
sible to keep the saddle in its position long enough to chafe them, 
unless intentionally fastened there with a too tight breast-strap; 
even then his shoulder is so straight that it has but little play. 
He is rough to ride, ungainly, and has no staying power. He 
can hardly be said to have a single redeeming trait. 



106 ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE TRUNK. 

If the legs and neck were removed from the horse's body, ihe 
trunk. would remain. It is subdivided into the breast, the chest 
with its enclosing ribs, the back and loins, the abdomen — the 
cavity in the rear part of the trunk — and its contents, the hips, 
and the croup. 

The breast is the muscular front portion of the chest, and is 
bounded by a line connecting the points of both shoulders and 
by the arm-bone on each side. For saddle purposes, great width 
of breast is usually at the expense of leaping power and speed, 
since this width is usually produced by over-development of the 
shoulder muscles, and not because of increased capacity of 
the chest. 

The lungs and heart are enclosed, by the ribs and dia- 
phragm, in the chest. It is by the expansion of the chest that 
air is brought into the lungs, and by its contraction that air is 
expelled. This expansion and contraction is performed by the 
muscles of the ribs. The greater the expansive power of the 
chest, the greater quantity of air will be drawn into the lungs, 
and the purifying and vitalizing of the blood will be more com- 
pletely performed. The ribs should, therefore, be long, convex, 
and slope to the rear. A horse whose ribs approach close to 
the haunch-bone is said to be well ribbed up. 

The cavity of the chest is separated from the abdomen by a 
muscular partition, called the diaphragm. The entire cavity 
of the chest is lined by a very smooth, well-lubricated membrane, 
called the pleura, which envelopes, without attaching itself to, 
the heart and lungs. The abdomen contains the stomach, the 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 107 

intestines, the kidneys, and the various glands whose secretions 
assist in the processes of digestion. 

It is by the expansion and contraction of the chest that the 
lungs perform their function of purifying and oxidizing the blood. 
The lungs cannot be too big. The chest, to contain large lungs, 
should be deep, from top to bottom, long from front to rear, 
and have great convexity. 

The abdomen must also be roomy, but only to a certain 
extent. If the abdomen is small — "tucked up," as it is called — 
there will be little room for food to be stored, the horse will be a 
dainty eater, requiring frequent feeding, and he will be unfit 
for hard service. If his abdomen is too large, its excessive weight 
will prevent the horse from being active or fast, and he will be 
clumsy and unpleasant to ride. A horse possessing the first 
fault is said to be herring-gutted, and the last mentioned, 
pot-bellied. 

The saddle on the pot-bellied horse is constantly slipping 
forward to bruise the withers or the shoulders. On the herring- 
gutted horse it keeps sliding back, to the annoyance of the rider. 

The contents of the abdomen are held in place by the ab- 
dominal tunic, a very powerful ligament, and by other tendons 
and muscles. This abdominal envelope should continue the 
lines of the ribs. The profile of the belly should slope gently 
downward from the sheath to the girth-place. 

The loins include the six lumbar vertebrae and their mus- 
cular covering. The region of the loins is commonly known as 
the coupling. 

If the ribs slope to the rear well, and the loin muscles are 
thick and strong, the horse is well coupled. For saddle-horses, 
the coupling should be short and the muscles strong and thick. 

The curve of the profile of the horse's back — from withers 
to tail — should be, when viewed from the side, smooth and flat- 
tened (Figure 70). There should be no "jog" (Figure 71) in 
front of the haunch-bone in horses in good condition. Most 



108 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

horses in low condition show a slight interruption in the curve 
of the back at this point, due to the wasting away of the muscles 
filling in the angle between the last vertebra of the loins and the 
first of those of the croup. 

The hips should be well rounded and not too prominent. A 
horse with too prominent, ragged hips is apt to strike and break 
them when going through narrow gates or doorways. When 
the point of the hip is broken, it is easily seen by the lack of 
symmetry, when viewed from the rear. The usefulness of the 
animal is not always impaired by such an accident, nor is he 
always made, even temporarily, lame by it. 

The diaphragm is the muscle that controls inspiration — 
the act of taking air into the lungs. When the air enters the 
lungs, the diaphragm is pressed against the contents of the ab- 
domen, they in turn press against the abdominal tunic, and it, 
being fastened to the point of the hip, exerts a pull there at each 
breath. A broken hip, therefore, cannot rest long enough to 
heal properly, and the symmetry of the part is always marred. 

The region between the hips, the loins, and the posterior 
ribs is called the flank (Figure 67). This should be well filled 
out and not too large. In the horse that is well ribbed up, there 
should be no more than room enough to lay the hand between 
the ribs and hip. A gauntness appears in the flank after great 
exertion, or when feeding or watering has been neglected. A 
horse that is losing condition shows it first in the flank. 

The croup should slope downward toward the tail but little 
and should be convex in profile, viewed either from the side or 
rear. Horses whose croups slope too much towards the rear 
are termed goose-rumped (Figure 68). Aside from being un- 
sightly, a goose-rumped horse lacks muscular development where 
it is very necessary, since certain of the large muscles of the 
thigh form their attachment there. These muscles originate 
propulsion, and any lack of development or loss of leverage 
reacts directly on the strength and length of the animal's stride. 
The five vertebrae of the croup grow together early in the life 
of the horse. 

The dock is the tail, without its hair. 
^ The hunter shown on the opposite page is a model. He 
has a perfect back and trunk. 




Figure 73. — A Hunter. 
From the painting by Otto Eerelman. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



Ill 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE HIND LEG. 

The column of bones of the hind leg are named in Figure 74 
and the external regions in Figures 75 and 76. The bones from 

the hock down 
are named as in 
the front leg. 

The chief 
function of the 
hind leg is 
propulsion; it 

supports less 
weight than the 
front leg (in the 
propor t i o n of 
three to five), 
and is less liable 
t o suffer from 
the effects o f 
concussion. The 
thigh-bone ar- 
ticulates with 
the pelvis at its 
lowest point, and 
slopes forward, 
downward, and 
outward to the 
stifle. It is 
deeply imbedd- 
Figure 75. — A Well-Built Horse, from Behind, ed in muscles of 




ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 113 

great strength and mass, and its position and movements are 
entirely obscured by them. The thighs should be well filled up, 
viewed from behind, leaving no open space between the legs. 
The stifles should be slightly wider apart than the hips, to insure 
freedom of movement in the stride. 

The stifle, or patella, corresponds to the human knee-cap. 
Its function is to afford additional leverage to certain muscles 
that advance the leg. It lies in front of the stifle-joint, and is 
held in place by several ligaments. Dislocations of the patella 
are rare, but are much more frequent than dislocations of any 
other joint. A horse suffering from this dislocation is said to 
be stifled. 

The leg-bone, or tibia, lies between the stifle-joint and the 
hock. The lower part of the muscles of the tibia is termed the 
gaskin, and it is important for fast work that these muscles be 
well developed. The muscles of the thigh start the propulsion; 
it is accelerated by the upper muscles of the tibia and the muscles 
of the gaskin give the final impulse to the stride. They are 
smaller and shorter than the upper muscles of the hind leg and 
their action correspondingly quicker. It is therefore important 
that their development be considerable. 

Aside from the rare dislocations of the patella, and fract- 
ure of the points of the hips, there are no common injuries 
to be looked for in the region of the hind leg, above the hock. 
This joint, however, is very liable to be disabled by an obscure 
disease, often difficult to discover, and always, when existing, 
of a nature that makes the animal permanently unsound. This 
disease is bone spavin. 

The hock is a more complicated joint than the knee. It 
is composed of six bones, five of which are interposed between 
the tibia and the cannon-bone, and a sixth placed behind them 
to act as a lever for certain of the tendons of the leg. In Figure 
77 the cannon-bone is the bone at the bottom of each drawing. 
The tibia, leg-bone, is entirely removed. It articulates with the 
—9— 





\ 



Sound hock 







\N 




/ 



Cured sp/avlh 



v- 




. 



•J 



m 

A)>«l/in . \ t 



I Vs 



Spavin . 
Figure 77. — The Bones of the Hock. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 115 

upper front bone that is so deeply grooved in the cuts. The bone 
near the numbers (1, 2, 3, and 4), standing back of the others, is 
the sixth bone referred to, and is the bone that forms the promi- 
nence in rear of the hock. The true hock- joint is between the 
upper bone of the five and the leg-bone; most of the motion of 
the hock is about this joint, and it is seldom diseased. The 
other four bones have smaller motions among themselves, but 
their principal function is to lessen, by the elasticity of their 
cartilages, the shock of impact. 

The properly shaped hock is clean in its outline, with its 
angularities well defined. The point of the hock should be 
prominent, and the depressions in front of it should be pro- 
nounced; there must be no pufnness about this joint. 

The bones are covered with membranes that secrete fluids 
necessary for their building up and preservation. The carti- 
lages between the bones possess most of the chemical elements 
of the bones themselves, except the lime and other salts that 
give the bones their rigidity and strength. When the mem- 
branes or cartilages are injured through any cause, inflamma- 
tion sets in, and the functions of secretion are stimulated. As 
a consequence, more of the bone salts are secreted than are 
needed for the maintenance of the bones, and the excess is de- 
posited on the outside, in the form of rough nodules that invade 
the spaces needed for the proper working of the ligaments and 
tendons of the joint, or in the tissues of the cartilages, which 
thereby loose their elasticity and become bone. This deposit 
may go on until the joint is destroyed by the excess bony de- 
posit cementing the bones together. 

In the hock- joint there is a great change in the direction of 
the energy developed in the propelling muscles, and everything 
connected with the joints should work smoothly to get the best 
results. Any strain due to excessive concussion is apt to set up 
inflammation between the lowest bones of the hock and the 
head of the cannon-bone. This inflammation, if not stopped 



116 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



before the bony deposit begins, results in bone spavin. Its usual 
seat is shown opposite the upper turn of the letter S in the 
word "seat," Figure 78. 

The usual treatment of a spavin, after the bony deposit 
has fairly begun, is to stimulate the deposit by artificial inflam- 
mation until 
the lowest 
b o n es are 
united to the 
cannon-bone; 
then to stop 
the inflamma- 
tion. Such a 
spavin is said 
to be ''cured/' 
but it has 
been cured at 
the expense 
of the joint, 
which has 
been perman- 
ently destroy- 
ed. When the 
spavin occurs 
between the 
bones , no 
visible en- 



QU1TTOR 

FALSE QUART 




Figure 78. 

largement results at first, but distressing lameness, due to ulcer- 
ation of the cartilage, is caused, that is very difficult to locate. 
This is an occult spavin. 

A spavined horse goes truer after being warmed up. 
If, after a sharp gallop, in which he travels true, he is allowed 
to stand for thirty minutes, and then sharply galloped, he will, 



118 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



if spavined, go noticeably lame. This is a characteristic of 
the disease. 

If the existence of spavin is suspected, another test is to 
pick up the foot and bend the hock well, holding the foot up for 
a minute or so. If the horse travels sound immediately after, 
he may be assumed to be sound. 

Between most of the joints of animals are placed closed 
membranous sacs, called synovial bursae, filled with a clear, 
yellowish fluid, called synovial fluid, or joint oil. These sacs 
are to diminish 
friction in the 
joints. Enlarge- 
ments of these 
bursas are called 
synovial e n - 
lar ge me n ts , 
and are given 
different names 
in different parts 
of the horse's 
anatomy. About 
the pasterns, 
and at the knees, 
they are called 
wind- galls; in 
front of the 
hock, bog spav- 
in; in rear of, 
and above it, 
thorough- pin. 
None of these 
enla rgements 
are, unless very 

large or inflamed, causes of lameness, 
or defects of conformation. 




Figure 80. — Capped Hock and Lymphangitis. 



They indicate weakness 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 119 

Blood-spavin is an enlargement of a large vein running up 
the leg. It is usually caused by the pressure of a bog-spavin 
damming the flow of the blood in the vein (Figure 79) . 

Capped hock, like capped elbow, is, in its first stage, a 
blister (Figure 80) . Its seat is the point of the hock. It is, 
when first formed, easily removed, causes no lameness, but 
points to bad stable habits, and is unsightly. 

A curb is a protuberance on the back of the hind leg, six 
inches or so below the point of the hock. It is caused by "a 
sprain of the tendon, which passes on the posterior of the hock, 
or of one of its sheaths, or of the strong ligament situated on 
the posterior border of the upper bone of the hock."* 

It is shown by a bulging backwards of the posterior part of 
the hock, interrupting what should be a straight line between 
the point of the hock and the fetlock. 

The inflammation in a curb, when it first appears, should 
be subdued by cold applications, and the further treatment of 
it left to a veterinarian. 

Curb is an unsoundness, and a permanent disfigurement. 
Its commonest cause is making a horse stop suddenly when at 
a rapid gait, thus throwing an excessive strain on the back 
ligaments of the hock. 

Lymphangitis is a disease of the lymph-ducts (small ves- 
sels carrying nourishment to the tissues), near the skin. It is 
manifested by an unsightly, permanent thickening of the skin. 
It is not, in its first steps, disabling, but is a serious blemish. 

Splints occur sometimes in the hind leg, but less often than 
in front. The pasterns of the hind leg slope less than those in 
front. They are more liable to ringbones than the front ones. 
Sidebones are verv rare in the hind foot. 



*Page 349, " Diseases of the Horse," Bureau of Animal industry, 
1903. 



120 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

Stringhalt is an involuntary jerking up of the hind leg 
(usually), bending the diseased member more than the sound 
one. It presents many phases, sometimes showing at the walk 
only, sometimes at the trot only, sometimes at all gaits. Its 
cause is unknown. It is very unsightly, is incurable, and usually 
increases with age. 

In conformation the hind leg should be powerful, without 
being clumsy. The croup should be concave, viewed from side 
or rear, and the hips not prominent. The tail should be carried 
away from the buttocks, and should not prolong the curve of 
the croup. It is noteworthy that a horse possessing courage 
and mettle always carries his tail well up until utterly exhausted. 
When his tail drops, while he is in motion, it is a warning to 
rest him. 

Viewed from the rear, there should be a slight concavity 
between the hips and the stifle, and the stifles should be slightly 
wider apart than the hips. If the hips are wider than the stifles, 
and prominent, they are said to be ragged. From the stifle to 
the hocks, the legs should converge, and the curve of the gaskin 
should be clean-cut and pronounced (Figure 75) . The tibia should 
be — or should appear to be — very long, and the hocks low, to 
get great power. The upper bone of the hock — the os calcis — 
should be pronounced. 

For saddle-horses, the hind legs should be " under the 
croup" — that is, a line dropped from the point of the croup 
should pass along the cannon, from hock to fetlock, or near it. 
The legs, from the hock to the ground, should be parallel and 
straight. If the hocks are nearer together than the fetlocks, 
the horse is cow-hocked if the hocks are wider apart than 
the fetlocks, he is said to be open behind. When the cannon 
slopes to the front from hock to pastern, the horse is sickle- 
hocked. All of these conditions are objectionable. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. ' 121 

The hind legs are less liable to injury than the front ones 
in saddle-horses not trained to jump, in cavalry-horses, and in 
polo-ponies, while in hunters and in harness-horses the hocks 
are the most vulnerable places. 



122 



ELEMENTS OF HIttOLOGY 



CHAPTER X. 



THE HORSE'S FOOT. 

The foot of the horse, from a standpoint of comparative 
anatomy, includes everything below the knee or hock. Prac- 
tically, horsemen, in speaking of the horse's foot, refer only to the 
hoof and its contents. The 
hoof corresponds in its 
structure to the nail on the 
toes of other animals. 

The foot is one of the most 
important parts of the 
horse to study, because it is 
the seat of so many dis- 
abling diseases, practically 
all of which can be prevented 
by proper care and use. 

The foot is a very com- 
plex member. It is built 
around three bones: the 
coffin-bone, the navicu- 
lar bone, and the lower 
pastern-bone. 

The coffin-bone, the low- 
est bone of all, lies wholly 
within the hoof. It is wedge- 
shaped, concave on its under surface, and cylindrical on the up- 
per sides of its anterior and lateral faces. In rear it branches 
into two parts, called the wings of the coffin-bone. 

Immediately above the coffin-bone, and resting on its highest 
part, rises the lower pastern- or coronary-bone; and in the 



1 ■# f \k 
.1. yj 




f / JfM 




■s>^y-^\:<:£: 




■■"'■'■■■'■■■■ -....,'■; 




laMi 


[upper pastern 

JOINT 


vliif Iffc.v^-' 




'- 3 ''IB' 

n 


RN 


h 




LOWu 


Blower pastern 

^B OOINT 

SfSjE'RN ' 




.NAVICULAR 


| NAVICULAR SONS JH 


:^:- - m joint 


COKfYn 'aoKE 

! 



Figure 81. — Nomenclature of 
the Bones op the Foot. 



ELEMENT 8 OF HIPPO LOGY. 



123 



Cannon bone 



Sesamoid bone 



Upper pastern 
bone 



angle behind the joint, formed by the coffin- and lower pastern- 
bone, fits the navicular- bone. These three bones are bound 
together by several short, strong ligaments. Two wide and 
thick pieces of cartilage, continuing the wings of the coffin-bone, 
called the lateral cartilages of the coffin-bone, fit in behind 

the three 
bones, be- 
tween them 
and the 
walls of the 
hoof, and 
act as 
springs to 
keep the 
bones from 
plunging 
too violent- 
ly into the 
wed g e - 
shaped in- 

Lower pastern^ evi0Y ° * 
the hoof, 
when ever 
the foot 
strikes the 
ground. 

A large, 
wide ten- 
don fastens 
itself to the 
under side 
of the coffin-bone, bends around the roller-shaped navicular- bone, 
passes behind the coronary-bone, and on up to its muscular de- 
velopment above the knee or hock. This is the principal flexor — 



Plantar 
cushion 



Frog 




Coffin 
bone 



Figure 82. — The Foot in Cross-Section. 



124 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

pulling back — tendon of the leg. Another broad tendon is fas- 
tened to the front of the coffin-bone to pull it forward. This is 
an extensor tendon. Both are well shown in Figure 82. 

Under the flexor tendon and the lateral cartilages is placed 
a soft, highly elastic cushion, called the plantar cushion, that, 
by its compression between the sole and frog of the hoof on its 
under side and the tendon and lateral cartilages above it, acts 
to soften the shock of impact. 

Enveloping all the structures above enumerated is the fleshy 
continuation of the skin, much changed in appearance from that 
above the hoof. This covering is highly vascular — that is, it is 
abundantly supplied with nerves and with blood and other ves- 
sels that supply the foot. The upper border of this covering is 
called the coronary band, and along the upper border of this 
band is another band, called the perioplic ring. Below the 
coronary band the fleshy covering of the foot is covered with a 
series of little ridges, called the sensitive laminae. They fit 
into corresponding depressions in the inner surface of the wall, 
These depressions in the wall are called the insensitive laminae. 

On the plantar surface, the fleshy envelope is called the 
velvety tissue. 

The hoof is the nail of the horse. It is composed of three 
parts — the wall, the sole, and the frog. The wall includes all 
that portion of the horny box that is visible when the foot is on 
the ground. The wall is divided into three regions : the toe, in 
front; the quarters, on the sides; and the heels, in rear. At the 
heels the wall doubles back, towards the center of the foot, 
forming the bars. The wall is thickest at the toe and is grad- 
ually thinner towards the heels, where it thickens again to form 
the bars. The outer face of the wall is composed of a great 
number of filaments, similar to hair in their growth and compo- 
sition, compacted firmly together with a natural glue, and grow- 
ing downward from the coronary band. It is covered with a sort 
of natural varnish that is secreted by the perioplic ring. The 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



125 



function of this varnish is to retain the moisture of the horn, 
which shrinks on drying and is liable to crack. The interior face 
of the wall is composed of the insensitive laminae. 

The sole is a horny plate, fitting into the wall, strongly ce- 
mented to it and with a V-shaped opening in the back that is 
lined, for two-thirds the distance from the heels, by the bars 
above referred to. The ground surface of the sole is arched so 

that, in its natural state, 
it does not come into con- 
tact with the ground. 

The frog is a soft, horny 
wedge, let into the angle cf 
the bars and sole, and lying 
under the plantar cushion. 
It is quite d^ply cleft at 
the heels into two parts 
that unite towards the angle 
of the V. 

81 In its natural, healthy 
state the frog rests on the 
ground to act as a stay 
against slipping. For this 
Homy frog purpose a healthy frog is 
much better than any arti- 




Figure 83.— Hoof, Frog, Coronary 
Band, and Ankle. 



ficial arrangement 



The fore foot is rounder, more spread out, less concave, and 
a little wider than the hind foot. Its heels are closer together, 
and the angle of its wall is usually more oblique than the hind foot. 

The hoof-wall grows downward from the coronary band. 
The new growth is always at the top, pushing the old growth 
downward. This old growth must be removed, either by natural 
wear, in the unshod horse, or by the blacksmith when the horse 
is shod. The sole and frog grow in the direction of their 
own thickness, and surplus growth scales off, unassisted. 



126 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

It requires about eight months to grow a new hoof. This 
growth of wall is faster at the toe than at the heel, and in the 
unshod horse the wear is greater at the toe ; consequently the 
wall is maintained at the proper height. 

The hoof grows faster during a moist, warm season, if the 
animal is in good health, than it does in dry or cold weather, or 
when the horse is debilitated. The hoof often shows the effect 
of the more favorable season by a thickened ring in the horn. 
Such rings, when of healthy growth, are called grass rings. 

When the foot strikes the ground the tendency is to force 
the coffin-bone down into its wedge-shaped seat. This is pre- 
vented by the intimate union between the sensitive and in- 
sensitive laminae (whose folds, if spread to their complete de- 
velopment, would cover more than a square yard), and by the 
elastic resistance of the frog, the plantar cushion, the flexor 
tendon, and the lateral cartilages. 

The sensitive and insensitive laminae not only dovetail into 
each other in the direction of their length, but they are also 
provided with multiple barbs that also interlock and resist any 
sliding tendency. All these elastic media unite in receiving the 
shock of impact and transmit it gradually through the bones 
and tendons of the legs and to the muscles above for its final 
decomposition. 

The foot itself actually spreads out slightly, and the con- 
cavity of the sole is reduced at the moment of impact. For this 
reason, except when necessary to prevent the undue spreading 
of the heels while the horse is in motion, shoes should be left 
open at the heels. 

The plantar surface of the foot is shown in Figure 85, after 
it has been levelled off to receive the shoe. The frog and its 
cleft are clearly seen. The doubling back of the wall to. form 
the bars shows plainly at the heels. The line of demarcation 
between the sole and wall is shown in the dark line paralleling 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



127 



the wall at the toe. The position of this line also shows the 
thickness of the sole. 

A saddle-horse should not have too large a foot. A large 
foot is characteristic of a slow, lymphatic animal. Its horn is 
usually less dense than in a smaller foot on a horse of the same 
size. Such a horse is more liable to diseases of the feet when 




Figure 84. — The Hoof. 



the horse is called on to do fast work. Large feet belong properly 
to draft-horses. 

The foot should not be too small, for its smallness will 
usually be at the expense of thickness of wall. 

The feet should be of the same size, allowing for the differ- 
ence in shape in fore and hind feet, and the angle of the wall at 
the toe should be about forty-five degrees, getting gradually 
more nearly vertical as it approaches the heels. 

If the angle at the toe is much less than forty-five degrees, 
the horse is said to be flat-footed. This is usually accompanied 
by a flat sole and a predisposition to disease. 



128 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



A horse that toes-in is said to be pigeon-toed, and out- 
bowed if he toes out. If one foot points to the right or left, 
while the other one is straight, he is club-footed. 

A vertical plane, paralleling the axis of the horse, and cut- 
ting the foot at the toe, should split the foot in half, and contain 
the axis of the leg. In other words, the forearm and cannon 
should be straight and vertical, and the foot should be set squarely 
to the front on the same vertical axis. The outer lines of the 
two forearms usually converge towards the knee, due to mus- 
cular development. The column of bones should be straight. 




Figure 85. — The Plantar Surface of the Foot. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



129 



CHAPTER XI 



DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 

As we have seen, there is seldom reason, to suspect disease 
in the horse in the shoulder or thigh, and only occasionally in 
the elbow, forearm, stifle, or gaskin. The knee, the hock, and 

the cannons are 
quite often, and the 
pasterns and feet 
are especially liable 
to be the seats of 
disease. In the 
feet, no part is 
exempt. 

Beginning at the 
plantar surface, we 
find a very common 
disease in inflam- 
mation of the frog, 
called, commonly, 
thrush. 

Thrush is a dis- 
ease of filth and 
neglect. The salts 
of urine have an es- 
pecially bad influ- 
Figure 86. — Thrush axd Contracted Heels, ence on horses' 

feet, and those 
animals that are allowed to stand in mud-puddles made of the 
clay of their stalls mixed with urine are very apt to have this 

•disease. It also comes from subjecting the animals to extremes 
—10— 




130 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

of dryness and moisture, from hard work on rough, stony ground, 
or from being continually working or standing in mud. 

The disease first shows itself by a constant moisture and 
foul odor in the cleft of the frog. If neglected, a thin watery 
discharge follows, changing into a thick, very offensive discharge; 
in this stage the frog becomes rapidly destroyed. 

The treatment is cleanliness and the removal of the exciting 
cause. This will usually be sufficient in the first stages. In the 
late progress of the disease it resists treatment stubbornly, and 
needs most careful attention. In the absence of a veterinarian, 
the foot should be thoroughly cleaned, the ragged parts of the 
frog cut away. The diseased parts should then be dusted with 
calomel or iodoform, and the cleft packed with oakum. The 
foot should then be bandaged, to keep out the dirt. If the horse 
must be used during the day, remove the bandage while the 
horse is at work, renewing the treatment after the day's work 
is over. This treatment must continue until the frog is sound. 

One of the serious conditions attending this disease is that 
it is not a cause of lameness until it has reached a very serious 
stage. 

Canker is a disease of the sole and frog that is of germ 
origin. The canker-germ usually does not attack a sound foot, 
but is found to be a sequel to thrush or to a punctured wound of 
the foot. If it originates in a puncture, it is noticed that the 
wound does not heal, but becomes more and more aggravated. 
If it occurs independently of an injury, it is first noticed by its 
offensive odor, the discharge from the cleft and sides of the frog, 
and the rotting away of the sole. Surgery is the best treatment. 

A corn is a blood-blister in the living tissues of the sole. 
It is caused by a bruise to that part of the sole between the bars 
and the wall, where the sole is thinnest. If the horse goes lame 
in one leg, without apparent cause, his shoe should be pulled, 
and the seat of corn pared out. If, instead of showing white, 
the sole shows a discolored spot, with reddish streaks — inflamed 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 131 

capillaries — radiating from it, the trouble is from a corn. The 
treatment is to cut out the sole immediately over the corn, to 
keep the shoe from bearing on it. 

The fore feet are almost exclusively subject to corns. While 
in motion, the horse strikes the ground first with the heels of his 
fore feet and with the toes of his hind feet. 

If the seat of corn is repeatedly bruised, as is the case when 
the shoe is left on too long, and the heel bears directly on the 
seat of corn, it often suppurates, and the inflammation spreads 
to the velvety tissue and the laminae. This is an uncommon 
and extremely serious phase of the disease. 

A bruised sole is a similar trouble, resulting from a severe 
blow to the sole. It is very difficult to locate, and can only be 
cured by rest, and, when suppuration results, by surgery. 

Contracted heels is a common disease among all classes of 
horses, but especially among saddle-horses. It is a result of 
diseases that cause the destruction of the frog, or of a wasting 
away of the frog from disuse, as in the case with horses habitualK 
shod with calks. The heels, robbed of the support of the healthy 
frog, pinch in together (Figure 86) . The only remedy is to re- 
store the frog, and usually this is impossible. 

Cracked heels, or scratches, is a disease similar to the 
familiar chapped hands. Its location is in the tender skin over 
the heels and under the fetlock. It is easily recognized by 
longitudinal cracks in the skin, showing red under at first. If 
neglected, the fluids that escape will dry and form thick crusts 
on each side of the cracks. The cracks often become infected 
and suppurate. Similar cracks at the bend of the knee and 
hock, called, respectively, malanders and salanders, some- 
times appear, and, in certain badly neglected cases, these regions 
unite, presenting a most loathsome aspect. Scratches are al- 
most always caused by filth, neglect, or bad treatment, and are 
cured by cleanliness and dryness. Extreme cases need expert 
treatment. 



132 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

A good treatment for the first stages of the disease is to 
bathe the part until it is clean, dry it well, and apply carbolized 
vaseline locally. This dressing must be frequently changed, as 
dust adheres to it and, if left on after it becomes caked with dust, 
it may do more harm than good. The patient must be rested, 
as the cracks open with each step the horse takes. 

Horses that are tied by so long a rope that they can tangle 
their hind (very rarely the fore) foot in it, will usually struggle 
to free themselves, and often seriously chafe the tender skin under 
the fetlock; such a chafe is termed a rope-burn. Because of 
their position and the difficulty of keeping the part at rest, they 
are tedious to heal, and, when healed, leave unsightly scars. Rope- 
burns are merely blemishes when they heal without causing 
stiffness in the action. On account of their unsightliness, it is 
best to prevent them by watching horses that are picketed out 
very carefully until they have learned how to avoid burning 
themselves. In the stables, care should be taken that a horse 
is tied short enough that he cannot get his hind foot over the rope. 

Brushing, cutting, or interfering are names given to 
indicate an injury to the fetlock of either a fore or hind foot, 
done by striking the fetlock with the opposite foot. They are 
caused by improper shoeing, weariness, or defective action, and 
are prevented by proper shoeing or by the use of boots or so- 
called interfering straps. 

Forging, or clicking, is the striking of the under side of 
the shoe or the sole of the front foot by the toe of the hind hoof 
or shoe on the same side. It is caused usually by defective ac- 
tion. The front foot is slow in recovering from a stride and is 
struck at the instant it is most bent to the rear. The theory 
has been advanced that the horse does it willfully, because he 
likes to hear the click as the shoes come together. It is corrected 
by special shoeing. 

Coronitis is the name for inflammation of the coronary 
band. This disease is usually the accompaniment of some other 
disease of the foot. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



133 



Wounds or bruises of the coronet are known by the general 
name of treads, because they come usually from being stepped 
on. Treads are dangerous when they affect the extensor tendon, 
or when they injure the joint between the coffin-bone and the 
coronary-bone. A tread must be keptjvery clean, and infection 

must be very 
carefully 
guar d e d 
against by the 
use of antisep- 
t i c dressings 
— as iodoform, 
calomel, o r 
car b o 1 i z e d 
vaseline. 

If the tread 
is serious 
enough to de- 
stroy part of 
the coronary 
band, the 
part of the 
hoof that was 
supplied b y 
the destroyed 
part fills in, in 
an irregular 
way, from the 
sides and from beneath, and a malformation called false quarter 
results. 

A puncture is a wound to the foot, caused by a nail or 
other sharp object being driven into the sensitive parts of the foot. 
Any infection within the rim of the hoof, resulting in sup- 
puration, forms an abscess that cannot drain downward. As 



QUITTOR 
FALSE QUART 




Figure 87. — Quittor and False Quarter. 



134 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

the pus accumulates it is forced upward usually until the sinus 
reaches the rim of the coronary band, where an open sore re- 
sults. Such a sore^ a fistula, is called a quittor. Frequently, 
in the history of quittors, the sole is finally penetrated b} r the 
pus, and natural drainage results. A quittor is almost always 
the result of neglect, and in its most frequent form is the result 
of a neglected tread. 

Cracks in the hoof running up and down are termed sand- 
cracks when in the toe — usually in the hind feet, and quarter- 
cracks when on the inside — usually on the front feet. The 
outside of the feet is seldom cracked. Cracks are usually caused 
by defective shoeing or by excessive dryness. 

Sidebones are the ossifications resulting from inflamed 
lateral cartilages. These cartilages help receive and distribute 
the shock of impact. Inflammation causes bony deposits to 
replace the cartilaginous tissue. These deposits often grow to 
be noticeably large. 

Navicular disease is the result of an injury to the navic- 
ular-bone or to its coverings or attachments that either fractures 
the bone or sets up destructive inflammation in it. 

The navicular-bone is a little roller-shaped bone, lying in 
the posterior angle between the lower pastern-bone and the 
coffin-bone. The perforans tendon is fastened to the under side 
of the coffin-bone. It bends over the navicular-bone, passes 
behind the pastern, and, bending again over the sesamoids, 
goes upward to its muscular development above the knee. 

This tendon transmits much of the shock of impact. The 
navicular-bone, pinched in between it and the other bones of 
the foot, is subjected to tremendous pressure at every stride. 
Its surface must be smooth and well lubricated in order that the 
tendon perforans may slip smoothly over it, in response to the 
action of the muscles controlling it. If the pressure of the 
tendon is too great for the health of the bone, it breaks, or 
its envelope becomes inflamed and its structure changes. Its 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



135 



surface becomes rough and chafes the sheath of the tendon, 
and, as the bone is inaccessible to the surgeon, the evil done is 
irre medial. Navicular disease is incurable and very painful. 
In order to render the horse unconscious of this pain, and so 

prolong i t s usefulness 
until a complete break- 
down occurs, a portion 
of the sensory nerve sup- 
plying the foot is re- 
moved by an operation 
called neurotomy. 

"In the early stages of 
navicular disease the 
symptoms are generally 
very obscure. When the 
disease begins in inflam- 
mation of the navicular 
bone, the animal, while 
at rest, 'points' the af- 
fected foot a time before 
any lameness is seen. 
While at work, he ap- 
parently travels as well 
as ever, but when placed 
in the stable, one foot is 
set out in front of the 
other, resting on the toe, 
with fetlock and knee 
flexed. After a time, 
if the case is closely 
lame steps while at work, 
suddenly as it came, and 




Figure 88. 



watched, the animal takes a few 

but the lameness disappears as 

the driver doubts if the animal was really lame at all. Later 

on the patient has a lame spell, which may last during the greater 



136 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



part of a day, but the next morning it is gone; he leaves the 
stable all right, but goes lame again during the day. In time he 
has a severe attack of lameness, which may last a week or more, 
when_a_remission takes place, and it may be weeks or months 




Figure 89. — Pointing a Toe for Navicular Disease. 

before another attack supervenes. Finally, he becomes con- 
stantly lame, and the more he is used the greater the lameness."* 
The polo-pony pointing his toe in Figure 89 went through 
the phases described above exactly. The first long attack came 

*Page 410, " Diseases of the Horse," Bureau of Animal Industry, 
1903. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



137 



on during the early spring, and he recovered from it before the 
polo seasoned open. He played a fast game every fine day during 
the season. His second attack came on during the next winter 
and lasted several weeks. The following spring he played well 
for two months, and then went permanently lame. 

Navicular dis- 
ease does not 
attack the hind 
feet. (There are 
but two cases on 
record, according to 
Moller, an eminent 
German veterinar- 
ian.) 

A ringbone 
(Figure 90) is a 
bony growth on the 
ankle. It is not a 
disease in itself, but, 
like bone spavin, is 
a result of inflam- 
mation in bone- 
producing tissues. 
Ringbones are 
caused by blows, 
sprains, overwork, 
too fast work on 
hard roads, jump- 
ing, and the like. Horses whose pasterns are too short and up- 
right are more liable to the disease that causes ringbone than 
those with long, elastic pasterns. 

The first symptom is lameness. A puff, hot and harder 
than the ordinary wind-gall, is noticeable. The ringbones that 
develop under the extensor tendon or near the navicular joint 




Figure 90. 



138 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

are the most distressing, and are almost sure to produce incurable 
lameness. Those on the side of the bone, or high up on the 
upper pastern, are sometimes called false ringbones, and do not 
always cause lameness. A ringbone is difficult to diagnose in 
its early stages, but in its full growth can be easily seen and felt. 
The treatment for ringbone is the same as for spavin. If the 
ringbone interferes with the action of the extensor tendon or the 
navicular joint, recovery is impossible. A horse suffering from 
ringbone in front points his foot by resting it on the heel. 

Founder, or laminitis, is inflammation of the sensitive 
laminae of the foot. Like all inflammation in soft tissues, it is 
accompanied by congestion. The excess of blood fluids causes 
great pressure to be brought on the outer face of the coffin-bone, 
sufficient in very severe attacks to force that bone through the 
sole, causing dropped sole. In acute attacks the horse gives 
every evidence of suffering great pain. He is very lame, the 
pulse and temperature rise rapidly. He breathes rapidly, with 
nostrils open and heaving sides. He refuses food, but drinks 
copiously. The coronets and ankles are hot and dry, and the 
artery of the fetlock throbs noticeably. 

If only one front foot is affected, he relieves that foot of as 
much weight as possible by advancing it and resting it on its heel. 
When urged forward, he either carries the lame foot in the air, 
hopping from the other, or he puts it carefully forward on its 
heel and quickly advances the other of the pair. He has great 
difficulty in turning towards the side of the lame foot. 

If both front feet are affected, the animal will be verv, hard 
to move. He advances by cautiously planting the fore feet and 
then quickly brings his hind feet well forward. When standing, 
he rests his head on the manger or hangs it down nearly to the 
floor.* 



*The discussion of founder is condensed from Dr. A. A. Hol- 
combe's article on Diseases of the Fetlock, Ankle, and Foot, "Diseases 
of the Horse," p. 417, et seq. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 139 

If the hind feet are affected, they are planted well to the 
front to bring the weight on the heels, and the fore feet are car- 
ried back, supporting as much of the weight as possible. It is 
extremely difficult for a horse foundered behind to move at all. 
All four feet are seldom affected at the same time. 

In mild cases the attacks last but a day or two. More 
serious cases run their course in one to two weeks. The more 
often the cases recur, the longer will be the period of recovery. 

The causes of founder are many and apparently unrelated. 
Concussion is a prolific cause; over-exertion when tired, and ex- 
haustion, are equally prolific. Rapid changes of temperature — 
sudden cooling after becoming very hot, either by watering the 
horse copiously, or by standing him uncovered in a draft — is a 
very common cause and the one most easily prevented. Neglect 
of " cooling out" a hot horse in summer might cause laminitis; 
in the winter the same neglect would be more apt to cause con- 
gestion of the lungs, followed by pneumonia. 

Chronic laminitis is the result of continued attacks of lam- 
initis. There is always fever in the feet. Due to the inflam- 
mation, more horn is deposited than the hoof needs; it is of poor 
quality, and the hoof becomes misshapen and scaly. Rings, 
showing this morbid growth, appear in the hoof. These rings 
usually correspond to each acute attack. They are roughly 
parallel to the coronet, as shown in Figure 91. The altered 
position of the coffin-bone is also shown there. These rings are 
easily distinguished from the grass rings in a healthy foot, re- 
ferred to in the last chapter. 

Seedy toe is a cavity in the horn, usually in the toe, due to 
a loss of secreting power in the laminae. It is usually a result 
of founder. 

The anatomy of a horse is such that the muscles of the fore- 
leg are at rest when he is standing squarely on both front legs. 
This is not true behind, where he supports his weight alternately 
on each leg, resting the other on its toe. 



140 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



A horse that does not stand squarely on a front foot is said 
to point it. If he points it on the toe, the trouble will be found 
in the flexor tendon; or on some tissue that it works against, not 
in the laminae. Hence, a horse pointing on his toe is suspected 
of navicular disense or strained back tendons. A horse having 
corns would point on the toe. If he rests it on the heel, it is to 
relieve pain in the laminae or under the extensor tendon, and he 
is suspected of founder or ringbone. 




Figure; 91. — Foundered Feet 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



141 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE PRINCIPLES OF HORSESHOEING FOR HORSES 
WITH ORDINARY FEET.* 

As has been shown in Chapter X. the horse renews his hoof 
in about eight months; and that the surplus growth of the horn 
of the wall must be removed, either by the wear resulting from the 

natural movements of 
the horse, or by arti- 
ficial means, while the 
surplus growth of the 
sole and frog scales off 
of itself when no long- 
er needed. 

The horn of the 
horse's hoof, while 
quite enough protec- 
tion for sensitive tis- 
sues beneath while the 
horse is at pasture, is 
not sufficient while he 
is at work, and the 
artificial protection of 
the horseshoe is neces- 









EE. JM V: ffl 4 







Figure 92. — Appearance of a Shoe 
Left on Too Long 



sary. 

The shoe protects 
the wall from wear, and consequently is carried by the wall, 
in the latter 's growth, away from the sole. The wall 

*This chapter is adapted, by permission, from Fitzwygram's 
"Horses and Stables," 1901 edition, making on;} T such changes as are 
demanded by our Cavalry Drill Regulations. 



142 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



grows much faster at the toe than at the heel, dragging 
the shoe forward slightly, and gradually changing the angle 
the coffin-bone makes with the pastern-bone. This has the ef- 
fect of diminishing the work of the extensor tendon at the ex- 
pense of the flexor tendon. Not only is this equilibrium de- 
stroyed by leaving the shoe on too long, but the heel of the shoe 




Figure 93. — Shoe on Too Long 

gradually bears more and more on the seat of corn, rendering 
lameness from corns extremely liable. 

Experience teaches that four weeks is the safe limit to leave 
the shoe on without re-seating it. This gives importance to the 
first rule in the care of the horse's feet: 

All shoes to be removed at the end of a month's wear. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 143 

Figure 93 shows a shoe that has been on about seven weeks. 
The frog has shrunken and the shoe is brought forward. The 
worn appearance of the toe would lead to the belief that the 
horse is a stumbler. 

All shoes have the fault of preventing the natural expansion 
and contraction of the foot, due to the elastic action of its tissues. 
To restore this elasticity and to rest the foot, the following rule 
should always, when possible, be observed : 

After shoes are removed, the horse should, if prac- 
ticable, be left barefoot for twenty-four to forty-eight 
hours. 

Proper use, proper feeding, and proper shoeing understood, 
no practice will prolong the period of usefulness of a horse, or 
do as much to prevent lameness, as this one. 

Any stableman of intelligence can be shown in an hour 
how to take off shoes properly. It is an easy matter, the day 
before a horse is to be shod, for the stableman to take off his 
shoes and pinch off the surplus wall. Even if he must be shod 
the next morning, the rest over night will do him much good. 

Before removing the old shoe, each clench should 
be carefully and fully raised (Figure 94). 

The careful and complete raising of each clench is necessary 
to avoid injury to the crust. If the clench is not raised, a part 
of the crust will be torn away as the nail is drawn, and the wall 
weakened by so much. 

After raising the clenches, the blacksmith next loosens the 
shoe with the pincers, beginning at the heel. When all the nails 
but the front one on one side are loosened, he begins at the other 
heel, working towards the toe again. Having loosened all the 
nails but the front ones, he seizes the shoe at one of these nails 
and pries towards the heel. If the blacksmith finds the shoe 
coming off "hard' ' he should examine it to see that two or more 
of the nails have not been driven obliquely, in which case there 



144 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



is danger of pulling out a wedge-shaped portion of the crust. 
In such a case the nails must be pulled separately. 

The seat of the newly-set shoe is on the wall at the level of 
the sole, bearing slightly on the sole. This surface must be pre- 
pared most carefully for the shoe by levelling it off so that it is a 
perfect plane and at 
right angles to the 
axis of the foot. In 
lowering the wall the 
following rule should 
be strictly adhered to : 

The wall to be low- 
ered to the level of 
the sole with the 
pincers, never with 
a knife. 

A line can be follow- 
ed better and easier 
with cutting pincers 
than with a knife. 
More than that, the 
proper use of the pin- 
cers insures that the 
wall will be brought 
down evenly to the 
sole all around. 

In the mechanical part of the shoeing it is of the highest de- 
gree important that the shoe be put on so that the foot will rest 
squarely on the ground, and also that the normal height at heel 
and toe be maintained. The blacksmith, after he has levelled 
the foot to the sole all around, should put the foot on the floor 
and verify its bearing before going further. He should also 
carefully observe any unusual thing in the conformation of 
the A foot. 




Figure 94. — Clenches Raised. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 145 

Rasp the wall down level with the sole. 

This is to remove the irregularities left by the pincers, and 
insure for the shoe a bearing surface on both sole and wall. 
When the surface has been made level, blunt the sharp outer 
edge of the crust with the rasp. 

It has been advocated that the elasticity of the horse's foot 
is increased by cutting away the bars — " opening out the heels," 
it is called. This practice is common enough to make necessary 
the following rule: 

The bars are not to be cut away. 

The bars are Nature's support against contraction of the 
heels and must on no account be cut away. Nor must the sole 
in the space between the bars and the wall be cut away. This 
filling-in of the interspace acts as a support to the bars and wall 
against contraction of the heels. The practice of opening the 
heels cannot be too severely condemned. 

The frog, if healthy, is not to be pared or even 
trimmed. 

The frog, like the sole, requires only to be let alone. It is 
Nature's pad, or cushion, to lessen concussion in the upper struct- 
ures when the foot comes to the ground. It can never grow 
too big. It thrives on concussion. If pared, and thereby de- 
prived of use, it dwindles away. 

The frog, when well developed, also acts as a stay against 
slipping. A good sound frog is a better stay than calks. If 
the frog has becorhe injured and is ragged, the ragged parts only 
should be carefully cut away. 

Do not burn out a seat for the shoe with a hot shoe. 

The seat of the shoe may be lightly touched with the hot 
shoe to mark its inequalities. The marked portions should then 
be rasped down. To burn out a seat for the shoe dries up the 
horn of sole and wall, kills living cells that are necessary to the 
strength of the hoof, and causes the sole to dry out and shrink 
—11— 



146 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



away from the shoe. It is a bad practice that is resorted to 
only by lazy horseshoers. It should not be tolerated. 

Figure 95 shows a foot that has been prepared for its shoe 
in a very common way, but in a way that violates the last three 
principles. The sole 
has been pared out, 
the wall cut down too 
much, the frog trim- 
med, the bars cut 
away, and, to com- 
plete the iniquity, the 
seat for the new shoe 
has been burned out. 

All of these abuses 
are easy of detection, 
except the last, by a 
very casual inspection 
of the shod horse. 

All shoes should 
be flat to the sole, 
not seated in. 

Make the shoe to 
fit the foot, neither 
longer nor smaller nor 
wider than the wall, 
except at the heels, 
where it may be not 
to exceed one-eighth 
of an inch wider 
than the crust. This 
last provision is to cause the shoe to keep its bearing as the 
growth of the wall brings it forward. 

Five nails are sufficient, three on the outside and two 
on the inside. 




Figure 95. 
Sole pared out, bars cut away, seat for 
shoe burned in with a hot shoe. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 147 

The front nail on each side should be in the anterior portion 
of the quarter, and the other nails should equally divide the 
distance to the heels. This rule is a flexible one. 

When a nail has been driven, the point should immediately 
be twisted off, to prevent possible blemishes to the other feet in 
case the horse should struggle. After the nails are all driven, 
the clenches are turned slightly and evened with the rasp, to 
make them the same length. A slight groove is then made on 
the under side of the clenches in the horn and the clenches bent 
into the groove. 

Clenches should not be rasped after being turned 
down. 

They should be carefully flattened with the hammer. Any 
filing, in addition to injuring the enamel, lessens the power 
of holding. 

Except to make this groove for the clenches, the rasp should 
not be used on the outside wall of the foot. Roughness in the 
clenches can be smoothed by light taps of the hammer. Rasping 
the outside of the hoof removes the enamel that is there to keep 
the foot from losing its moisture by evaporation; in the subse- 
quent drying and shrinking the hoof is often cracked. 

The shoe should be neither too large nor too small, but 
should fit the outside of the hoof perfectly in front of the rear- 
most nails. In rear of these nails the shoe should gradually 
broaden, to keep the ends from bearing on the seat of corn as 
the shoe is brought forward, and to leave room for cleaning the 
hoof between the frog and wall. 

If the shoe js too small — the most common fault — the black- 
smith will trim the .foot down to fit the shoe, a process called 
dumping and thereby greatly weaken the wall. The nails, 
too, are driven too near the sensitive tissues, and there is danger 
of pricking. Even if the nails do not actually reach the sen- 
sitive lamina?, if driven too near it, they will, by their pressure, 



148 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



irritate the laminae and cause lameness. Such a foot is said 
to be nailbound. 

The other extreme — having the shoe too large — is also liable 
to be injurious, because of the danger that the shoe may be 
stepped on, or 
otherwise 
dragged o ff , 
or that the 
horse may 
stumble. 

Be con- 
stantly o n 
the watch 
for loose 
shoes, and 
have them 
properly re- 
moved a s 
soon as dis- 
covered. 

If the shoe 
is cast, nails 
are apt to be 
left in the hoof 
or a portion 
o f the hoof 
may be pulled 
off with the 
shoe. When a 

shoe is removed, have the other one of its pair, front or rear, 
removed also, unless the shoe can be soon replaced. The horse 
travels and walks better when his legs are the same length. 
What to look for in a newly-shod horse : 
I , No mark of the rasp on the hoof. 




Figure 96. 

Shoe too small; wall and clenches rasped awa}^. 

Note. marks of the rasp. 



ELEMENTS. OF HIPPOLOGY. 149 

2. That the sole has not been pared out. 

3. That the frog, unless it was ragged, has not been 

trimmed. 

4. That the bars have not been cut away. 

5. That the seat of the shoe has not been burned out. 

6. That the nails have been put in as regularly as 

the state of the crust will admit of. 




Figure 97. 
Shoe too large; nails brought out too low down. 

7. That the nails have been brought out one inch 

above the shoe, in the normal foot. In flat 
feet they should appear a little less than an 
inch from the shoe. 

8. That the shoes are neither larger nor smaller 

than the wall, nor longer than the hoof. 

9. That the feet are the same length. 

10. That the nails fit the nail-holes accurately. 

11. That the clenches have not been rasped after 

being turned down. 



150 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

The following extract from the article by John W. Adams, 
A.B.. V.M.D., found on pages 565-569. " Diseases of the Horse/' 
gives an outline of the properties of horseshoes, and the special 
peculiarities of the chief classes of shoes: 

'"The shoe is an artificial base of support, by no means ideal, 
because it interferes, to a greater or less degree, with the physiology 
of the foot, but indispensable, except for horses at slow work on soft 
ground. Since a proper surface of support is of the greatest import- 
ance in preserving the health of the feet and legs, it is necessary to 
consider the various forms of shoes best adapted to the different forms 
of hoofs. Certain properties are common to all shoes and may be 
considered first. They are form, width, thickness, length, surfaces, 
borders, fullering, nail-holes, and clips. 

" Form. — Every shoe should have the form of the hoof for which 
it is intended, provided the hoof retains its proper shape; but for every 
hoof that has undergone change of form we must endeavor to give 
the shoe that form which the foot originally possessed. Front shoes 
and hind shoes, rights and lefts, should be distinctly different and 
easily distinguishable. 

"Width. — All shoes should be wider at the toe than at the ends 
of the branches. The average width should be about double the 
thickness of the wall at the toe. 

" Thickness. — The thickness should be sufficient to make the shoe 
last about four weeks and should be uniform, except in special cases. 

"Length. — This will depend upon the obliquity of the hoof, 
viewed in profile. The acute-angled hoof has long over-hanging heels, 
and a considerable proportion of the weight borne by the leg falls in 
the posterior half of the hoof. For such a hoof the branches of the 
shoe should extend back of the buttresses to a distance nearly double 
the thickness of the shoe. For a hoof of the regular form, the branches 
should project an amount equal to the thickness of the shoe. In a 
stumpy hoof, the shoe need not project more than one-eighth of an 
inch. In all cases the shoe should cover the entire "bearing surface' 
of the wall. 

" Surfaces. — The surface that is turned toward the hoof is known 
as the 'upper,' or 'hoof surface,' of the shoe. That part of the hoof 
surface which is in actual contact with the horn is called the ' bearing 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 151 

surface' of the shoe. The 'bearing surface' should be perfectly hor- 
izontal from side to side and wide enough to support the full thick- 
ness of the wall, the white line, and about an eighth of an inch of the 
margin of the sole. The bearing surface' should also be perfectly 
flat. except that it may be turned up at the toe. The surface be- 
tween the "bearing surface' and the inner edge of the shoe is often 
beaten down or concaved to prevent pressure too far inward upon the 
sole. This "concaving." or "seating.' should be deeper or shallower as 
the horny sole is less or more concave. As a rule, strongly "cupped' 
soles require no concaving (hind hoofs, narrow fore hoofs). 

" Borders. — The entire outer border should be beveled under the 
foot. Such a shoe is not so readily loosened, nor is it so apt to lead 
to interfering. 

"" Fullering. — This is a groove in the ground surface of the shoe. 
It should pass through two-thirds of the thickness of the shoe, be 
clean, and of uniform width. It is of advantage in that it makes 
the shoe lighter in proportion to its width.' and, by making the ground 
surface somewhat rough, tends to prevent slipping. 

"' Nail- Holes. — The shoe must be so punched that the nail-holes 
will fall directly on the white line. They should be confined to the 
fore half of front shoes, but may occupy the anterior two-thirds of 
hind shoes. For a medium-weight shoe three nail-holes in each 
branch are sufficient, but for heavier shoes, especially those provided 
with long calks, eight holes are about right, though three on the in- 
side and four on the outside may do. 

" Clips. — These are half-circular ears drawn up from the outer 
edge of the shoe, either at the toe or opposite the side wall. The 
height of a clip should equal the thickness of the shoe, though they 
should be even higher on hind shoes and when a leather sole is in- 
terposed between sole and hoof. Clips secure the shoe against shifting. 
A side clip should always be drawn up on that branch of the shoe that 
first meets the ground in locomotion. 



152 ELEMENTS OF EIPPOLOGY. 



"SPECIAL PECULIARITIES OF THE CHIEF CLASSES 
OF SHOES. 

" 1. A shoe for a regular hoof fits when its outer border follows 
the wall closely in the region of the nail-holes, and from the last nail 
to the end of the branch gradually projects beyond the surface of the 
wall to an eighth of an inch, and extends back of the buttresses an 
amount equal to the thickness of the shoe. The shoe must be straight, 
firm, air-tight, its nail-holes directly over the white line, and its 
branches far enough from the branches of the frog to permit the 
passage of a foot-pick. Branches of the shoe must be of equal length. 

" In fitting a shoe to a hoof of regular form, we follow the form 
of the hoof; but in base-wide and in base-narrow hoofs, which are of 
irregular form, we must pay attention not only to the form of the 
hoof, but also to the direction of the pasterns and the consequent dis- 
tribution of weight on the hoof, because where the most weight falls 
the surface of support of the foot must be widened, and where the 
least weight falls (opposite side of the hoof) the surface of support 
should be narrowed. In this way the improper distribution of weight 
within the hoof is evenly distributed over the surface of support. 

"2. A shoe for a base-wide hoof should be fitted full on the 
inner side of the foot and fitted close on the outer side, because the 
inner side bears the most weight. The nails in the outer branch are 
placed well back, but in the inner branch are crowded forward toward 
the toe. 

"3. A shoe for a base-narrow hoof should be just the reverse of 
the preceding. The outer branch should be somewhat longer than 
the inner. 

"4. A shoe for an acute-angled hoof should be long in the branch- 
es, because most of the weight falls in the posterior half of the foot. 
The support in front should be diminished either by turning the shoe 
up at the toe or by beveling it under the toe. 

"5. A shoe for a stumpy hoof should be short in the branches, 
and, for pronounced cases, should increase the support of the toe , 
where the most of the weight falls, by being bevelled downward 
and forward. 

" In many cases, especially in draft-horses, where the hoofs stand 
very close together, the coronet of the outer quarter is found to stand 
out beyond the lower border of the quarter. In such cases the outer 



ELEMENTS OF EIPPOLOGY. 153 

branch of the shoe from the last nail back must be fitted so full that 
an imaginary perpendicular dropped from the coronet will just meet 
the outer border of the shoe. The inner branch, on the other hand, 
must be fitted as 'close' as possible. The principal thought should be 
to set the new shoe further toward the more strongly-worn side. 
Such a practice will render unnecessary the widespread and popular 
fad of giving the outer quarter and heel-calk of hind shoes an extreme 
outward bend. Care should be taken, however, that in fitting the 
shoe 'full' at the quarter the bearing surface of the hoof at the quarter 
be not left unsupported or incompletely covered, to be pinched and 
squeezed inward against the frog. This will be obviated by making 
the outer branch of the shoe sufficiently wide and punching it so coarso 
that the nails will fall upon the white line " 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 155 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE HEART, LUNGS, AND AIR-PASSAGES. 

The heart is the organ by which the blood is circulated 
through the body. It hangs a little to the left of the center of 
the forward part of the chest, suspended from the vertebrae of 
the withers, the small end downwards. Its average weight is 
from seven to eight pounds. 

The heart is of interest to the amateur horseman because of 
the influence disease has on its action. In health, the heart of 
the ordinary horse pulsates from thirty-five to forty times a 
minute; the thoroughbred horse, from forty to forty-five. These 
pulsations of the heart send the blood through the arterial 
system in a series of waves, each wave corresponding to one 
pulsation of the heart. These waves constitute what is called 
the pulse, and it is by counting the pulse and by observation of 
the relative strength and frequency of the waves of the pulse 
that the heart-action of the horse is verified. 

It must be understood that the number of pulsations above 
noted is for the animal at rest, or when not undergoing any 
special exertion. The pulse will become higher during exertion, 
the amount of the increase depending on the extent of the ex- 
ertion. The pulse will be higher in horses kept in fine condition, 
in warm stables, and fed on selected forage, than in animals 
more roughly stabled and fed. It is higher in young horses 
than in old ones. Fear or excitement also tend to augment 
the pulse. 

When the animal is at rest, a pulse of from 50 to 55 indi- 
cates a feverish condition, the cause of which should be inves- 
tigated. From 70 to 75 beats a minute indicates a very serious 
condition, demanding prompt and energetic action. 



156 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

The arteries, where the pulse is felt, are the deep-seated 
blood-vessels; the veins lie nearer to the surface. There are 
several places where the larger arteries come close enough to 
the skin to be felt, but the best place to take the pulse is on the 
under side of the angle of the under jaw, where an artery bends 
around the bone. The pulse can also be counted by placing 
the hand against the side. 

"The temperature of the horse is determined roughly by 
placing the fingers in the mouth or between the thighs, or by 
allowing the horse to exhale against the cheek or back of the 
hand. In accurate examination, however, these means of de- 
termining temperature are not relied upon, but recourse is had 
to the use of the thermometer. The thermometer used for 
taking the temperature of a horse is a self-registering clinical 
thermometer, similar to that used by physicians, but larger, 
being from five to six inches long. The temperature of the 
animal is measured in the rectum. 

"The normal temperature of the ' horse varies somewhat 
under different conditions. It is higher in the young animal 
than in the old and is higher in hot weather than in cold. The 
weather and exercise decidedly influence the temperature, physi- 
ologically. The normal temperature varies from 99.5 to 101 
degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature rises to 101.5, the horse 
is said to have a low fever; if the temperature reaches 104, the 
fever is moderate; and if it reaches 106, it is high. Above this 
point it is regarded as very high. In some diseases the tem- 
perature goes as high as 108 or 110 degrees. In the ordinary in- 
fectious diseases it does not often exceed 106. A temperature 
of 107.5 degrees and above is very dangerous, and must be 
reduced promptly if the horse is to be saved."* 

"The lungs are the essential organs of respiration. They 
consist of two (right and left) spongy masses, commonly called 

*Page 17, " Diseases of the Horse," Bureau of Animal Industry, 
1903. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 157 

the lights, situated entirely within the thoracic cavity. On 
account of the space taken up by the heart, the left lung is the 
smaller. Externally, they are completely covered by the pleura. 
The structure of the lung consists of a light, soft, but very 
strong and remarkably elastic tissue, which can only be torn 
with difficulty. Each lung is divided into a certain number of 
lobes, which are subdivided into numberless lobules (little lobes). 
A little bronchial tube terminates in every one of these lobules. 
The little tube then divides into minute branches, which open 
into the air-cells of the lungs. The air-cells are little sacs, having 
a diameter varying from one-seventieth to one-two-hundredth 
of an inch; they have but one opening, the communication with 
the branches of the little bronchial tubes. Small blood-vessels 
ramify in the walls of the air-cells. The air-cells are the con- 
summation of the intricate structures forming the respiratory 
apparatus. They are of prime importance, all the rest being- 
complementary. It is here that the exchange of gases takes 
place. As before stated, the walls of the cells are very thin; 
so also are the walls of the blood-vessels. Through these walls 
escapes from the blood the carbonic acid gas that has been ab- 
sorbed by the blood in its circulation through the different parts 
of the body; and through these walls is absorbed, by the blood 
from the air in the air-cells, the ox3^gen-gas, which is the life- 
giving element of the atmosphere."* 

The nasal passages, or nostrils, unite above the back of the 
mouth, forming the pharynx. The pharynx is a box-like 
organ, through which the food passes into the gullet, as well 
as the air into the lungs. The nostrils and mouth open into it 
in front, nostrils above, and the gullet and windpipe lead from 
it in rear, the windpipe below. To guard against the introduc- 
tion of food into the windpipe, a large valve, 2 (Figure 98), 
closes it, that is hinged below and that lies, when the horse is 

*Pages^L19 and 120, " Diseases of the Horse," Bureau of Animal 
Industry, 1903. 



158 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

not eating, over the opening into the mouth. Food entering 
the pharynx from the mouth pushes this valve into place over 
the windpipe and passes over it into the gullet. For this reason 
a horse always must breathe through its nose, as air entering 
the pharynx through the mouth has the same effect as food of 
stopping the windpipe; hence it is important never to call on 
an animal for sudden or energetic action when there are particles 
of food in his pharynx that may be suddenly drawn into his 
lung, causing him to choke. 

Back of this valve lies the larynx, containing the vocal 
cords; this in turn opens into the windpipe, which separates, 
in the chest, into two branches leading to the right and left 
lungs (Figure 98). 

In the lungs these branches divide into bronchial tubes 
(Figure 98), which, by repeated ramifications, terminate in air- 
cells, where the process of purifying the blood takes place. 
These air-passages are all lined with mucous membrane, which 
secretes a slimy fluid called mucous, which, when discharged 
from the nostrils, is called phlegm. 

When, for any reason, this membrane becomes acutely in- 
flamed, a disease exists, which is variously named, depending 
upon its location in the air-passages. 

In the nostrils or pharynx it is called cold in the head; in 
the larynx and windpipe, laryngitis, or sore throat; in the 
branches of the windpipe and the bronchial tubes, bronchitis. 
If the substance of the lungs becomes inflamed, the disease is 
known as pneumonia. 

Lining the chest and covering the lungs are two membranes, 
called the pleurae. They are fast to the lungs and chest, re- 
spectively, but are completely separated from each other. A 
lubricant is secreted by each that flows between them, making 
it easy for them to slip on each other as the lungs are enlarged 
and contracted. If they become inflamed? the disease is pleu- 



160 ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 

risy. Bronchitis, pleurisy, and pneumonia are allied dis- 
eases and rarely exist separately. 

Congestion of the lungs is an engorgement of the capil- 
laries of the lungs with blood, caused by over-exertion, or sudden 
chilling after heating work. The lungs cannot purify the blood 
fast enough, and, unless the congestion is arrested, the horse 
dies of suffocation. 

When a horse has been driven or ridden very fast for a 
longer period than should have been the case, the severe strain 
put upon the diaphragm by the extra exertion will cause violent 
spasmodic contractions of that muscle. This condition is called 
thumps, and is similar in origin to the familiar hiccoughs. 
Usually the flank is shrunken, and the posterior angle of the ribs 
thrust outwards. The jerky motion caused by the spasm shakes 
the whole body. The pulse is not accelerated in thumps ; it 
often is weaker than normal. If not relieved, death usually 
results. 

If the disease appears while the animal is on the road, he 
should be stopped at once; the saddle or harness should be re- 
moved, and the body and legs should be briskly rubbed to draw 
as much of the circulation to the skin as possible. As many 
persons as are available should be put at this work. When the 
body has become warm and the spasms relax, the patient should 
be warmly blanketed and should be put in the nearest box-stall, 
out of drafts. Two or three days' careful nursing will usually 
complete the convalescence. 

Thumps attacking a horse on the road is always caused 
by injudicious use. Thumps may be followed by congestion 
of the lungs, especially in the winter, or by founder in the 
summer. 

These are all acute diseases. From repeated attacks, the 
membranes become thickened or their vitality becomes im- 
paired, and certain chronic diseases result. 




—12— 



162 ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 

Thick wind is the name for the chronically diseased and 
thickened condition of the smaller bronchial tubes. The amount 
of blood that can be purified is limited by this disease, and the 
horse shows distress and labors when worked fast or hard. He 
seems to struggle for his wind — to gasp for breath. It is not 
accompanied by noise, and the inhalations and exhalations recur 
at equal intervals. There is no medical treatment for this dis- 
ease. If the horse is very carefully fed, is not exercised at all 
while his stomach is full, and is worked lightly and at slow 
gaits, he may finally recover partially, and gradually become 
more and more serviceable. 

Broken wind or heaves is caused either by a rupture of the 
air-cells, or by a partial paralysis of the muscles of the cells that 
assist in expelling the air. In this disease the ordinary action 
of the lungs and diaphragm is not enough to clear the lungs, 
and a second contraction is necessary. 

The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle, rising from the 
abdomen into the hollow of the chest. By its muscular action 
the lungs are squeezed against the ribs and the air thus mechan- 
ically pushed out of them. With the withdrawal of the dia- 
phragm the lungs expand and follow it, and so fill themselves 
with the fresh air that is so necessary to the life of the animal. 
If the stomach is overloaded with coarse food, the diaphragm 
will be mechanically and constantly pushed against the lungs, 
and so limit their powers of expansion. While this condition 
exists, if the animal is called on for any extra effort, the lungs 
will not respond to the demands made on them by the circula- 
tion, and the cell walls will be ruptured in consequence. When 
the processes of digestion remove the obstruction to the lungs' 
proper action, the evil will still remain. The lung-cells that 
have been ruptured will leak air into the lung tissue itself, and 
this air is expelled with difficulty. Horses living in a dusty or 
badly- ventilated stable are predisposed to heaves. The lungs, 
being constantly irritated, become chronically inflamed, and the 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 163 

muscles of the cell walls lose their elasticity or become partially 
paralyzed. 

Broken wind is easily distinguished from other lung 
disease by the double effort to exhale air, usually accom- 
panied by a hacking cough. The period of exhalation is longer 
than the period of inhalation. Heaves, except in very mild, 
recent cases, is incurable, and the horse is greatly disabled by it. 

Roaring is a disease that is characterized by a peculiar 
noise made by the horse at inhalation. The noise called roaring 
may be made by a sound horse when excited, or when suddenly 
put to exertion after a period of idleness, or on account of a 
cramped position of the head or neck. This noise is not accom- 
panied, in the sound horse, by evidences of fatigue and ina- 
bility to perform work, as is the case in the unsound horse. 
Chronic roaring is the result of a paralysis of the muscles of the 
larynx that control the vocal cords. This paralysis prevents 
them from being opened sufficiently wide to admit air without 
vibrating. Often a horse maybe affected by the disease — par- 
alysis of the vocal cord — without the accompanying sound. 
This can be detected by making a sudden motion towards the 
flank with the hand or whip, when the unsound animal will 
grunt or groan. Roaring is very disabling, and can be cured 
only by a surgical operation. This operation consists in re- 
removing the vocal cord that has become uncontrollable. 

Whistling is a variation of the sound made by a roarer. A 
horse with a severe sore throat may make a whistling sound at 
inhalation. This should not be considered as evidence that he 
is a roarer until the sore throat is cured, when, if the horse is 
sound, the whistling will cease. 

A sound horse should breathe noiselessly and easily in all 
emergencies. . A horse that makes any noise or has any diffi- 
culty in its breathing, no matter how slight, should not be 
considered sound. 



164 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY, 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS. 

The digestive apparatus consists of the mouth, the gullet, 
the stomach, the large and small intestines, and certain 
other organs, into whose functions it is not necessary to in- 
quire in so elementary a treatise as this* one. These organs ex- 
cept, of course, the mouth and a portion of the gullet, are con- 
tained in the abdominal cavity. 

The food is taken by the lips and is worked back to the 
upper part of the mouth by the lips and tongue. There it is 
masticated by the molar teeth and mixed with saliva secreted 
by the salivary glands. This is the first process of digestion. 
When the mouthful has been well broken up and saturated 
with saliva, it is passed back through the pharynx and gullet 
to the stomach. This is a small organ, having a capacity of 
three to three and a half gallons. Two-thirds of the lining of 
the stomach is a membrane that secretes gastric juice. The 
food is slowly mixed in the stomach with this liquid until it 
partially changes its character, and is passed into the small in- 
testine, to be there mixed with the digestive juices of the liver, 
spleen, and other intestinal glands, to be transformed by the 
chemical action of these reagents until it is ready to be absorbed 
into the system. 

A system of vessels, called lacteals, and the veins, absorb 
the nutritive part of the food thus transformed and carry it to 
a large vein near the heart, where it is poured into the blood. 
This fluid, thus enriched, is carried by the circulation to all parts 
of the body to nourish it and repair waste tissues. The debris 
of digestion is forced through the large intestine and is voided 
as dung. 










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166 ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 

Water takes a different course. It passes almost directly 
through the stomach and small intestine to the water-sac or 
caecum, where it is stored for use. A portion is drawn off to be 
mixed with the blood to supply the fluids of the system; the 
rest, carrying with it certain salts necessary to be removed from 
the body, is excreted through the kidneys as urine. 

The horse is an animal requiring regularity in feeding and 
watering and a very limited variety of foods to be kept in effi- 
cient condition. The horse's stomach is very small; in propor- 
tion to his bulk, it is only half the size of the human stomach. 
It rests upon the large intestine and against the diaphragm, 
while the small intestines lie further back in the abdomen, more 
remote from the direct action of the diaphragm. The walls of 
the stomach are elastic, and permit it to accommodate itself to 
the bulk of the food that enters it. 

The above considerations render it imperative that a horse 
should not be called on for severe work or rapid exercise imme- 
diately after eating a bulky meal. The stomach, distended, in- 
terferes with the free action of the diaphragm, and the latter, 
in its efforts to increase the air capacity of the lungs, squeezes 
the stomach back against the intestines, and so greatly impedes 
the processes of digestion. 

Very fortunately, digestion is a rapid process in the horse, 
and the stomach is called on to do but little of the digestion of 
the bulkier foods. Water is retained in the stomach or small 
intestines only when it is absorbed by partially-digested food. 
This has the effect of diluting the digestive fluids, of delaying 
the process of digestion, and of mechanically removing from the 
stomach food that is not ready to be passed to the intestine. In 
addition, the water cools the stomach and its contents below 
the temperature at which it best performs its functions. For 
these reasons horses should not have access to water while 
eating, or for an hour or two after. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 167 

Hay requires to be thoroughly chewed and mixed with 
saliva before it can be swallowed. When it reaches the stomach 
it is delayed there but a short time, and passes to the small in- 
testine, where the greater part of its digestion is performed. 
If a horse is fed only hay, the first portion of his meal passes 
into the intestine very soon, but the stomach retains the suc- 
ceeding portions for a longer time, and it is several hours before 
the stomach is empty. In this way the muscles of the stomach 
get the necessary amount of exercise to keep them in proper 
condition. 

Oats, however, and other concentrated foods are digested 
almost entirely in the stomach; when they pass into the in- 
testine much of their bulk is rapidly absorbed by the lacteals, 
and there is little left for the intestine to work on. The result 
is that the horse is still restless and hungry. If this one-sided 
ration is continually given him, he will fall off faster than he 
would do if fed hay alone, and this in spite of the fact that oats 
contain more elements of nourishment than hay does. Horses 
given an insufficient amount of hay will eat their bedding, or 
any rough food they can get, to satisfy the craving for intestinal 
exercise. Poor hay— that is not musty or dusty — and wheat, 
rye, or barley straw, although they may contain practically no 
nourishing qualities, will preserve the strength and health of a 
horse in a remarkable degree. On this account horses on cam- 
paign, or in places where good hay is hard to get, ought always 
to be provided with rough forage of some sort, no matter how 
poor in nourishing qualities. 

The normal processes of digestion must not be interfered 
with, or sickness or debility will result. A certain amount of 
the digestion of food is done in the mouth, where the chemical 
action of the saliva prepares the food for the further action of 
the stomach. In order that the saliva can reach every part of 
each mouthful of food, it must be broken up by the teeth. This 
process is necessarily done in the case of hay, but oats are al- 



168 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

ready fine enough to be swallowed and their smooth hulls offer 
no obstacle to that process. These hulls are insoluble in the 
juices of the stomach, and, if the oat grain has not been crushed 
by the teeth, the kernel of the grain passes through the horse 
unchanged. If it is imperfectly crushed, it will be only partially 
digested in the stomach, and will pass on to the intestines, to 
ferment there and to generate gases there that will cause distress 
and often disease. 

Owing to the uniformity in diet and the regular hours of 
feeding, labor, and rest of most well-kept horses, diseases of the 
digestive apparatus are comparatively infrequent among that 
class of horses. They are the most easily preventable of all 
equine diseases. Unfortunately, many horses are not well kept, 
and, as a result, "the disease of the horse that is most frequent- 
ly met with is what is termed colic. This term is applied 
loosely to almost all diseases of the abdomen that are accom- 
panied by pain. If the horse evinces abdominal pain, he is 
likely to be put down as suffering with colic, no matter whether 
the difficulty be a cramp of the bowel, an internal hernia, over- 
loading of the stomach, or a painful disease of the bladder or 
liver. 

"The general symptoms of abdominal pain, and therefore 
of colic, are restlessness, cessation of whatever the horse is about, 
lying down, looking around towards the flank, jerky switching 
of the tail, stretching as if to urinate, frequent changes of posi- 
tion, and groaning. In the more intense forms the horse plunges 
about, throws himself down, rolls, assumes unnatural positions, 
as sitting on the haunches, and grunts loudly. Usually the pain 
is not constant, and during the intermissions the horse may eat 
and appear normal. During the period of pain, sweat is poured 
out freely. Sometimes the horse moves constantly in a circle. 
The respirations are accelerated, and usually there is no fever." 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 169 

From the above quotation* it is easily seen that grave er- 
rors might be made in attempting to set down a specific treat- 
ment for colic. The best treatment, for the non-professional 
person, is to get the patient free from all harness, in a roomy 
box-stall with plenty of bedding, so that he will not hurt himself 
in his spasms of pain — and send for a veterinary surgeon. 

Indigestion, or catarrh of the stomach or intestines, 
is a much more common disease than colic, but it usually does 
not exhibit such violent symptoms. The mucous membrane is 
the general lining membrane of the digestive and respiratory 
apparatus. Inflammation of this membrane impairs the di- 
gestive ability of the organs inflamed, and the animal suffers a 
loss of vitality in direct proportion to the extent of the disease. 
The symptoms of the disease are an irregular and depraved ap- 
petite and a loss of condition. The animal may show colicky 
symptoms in extreme cases. The bowels are irregular, and the 
dung contains much of the horse's food that is unchanged by its 
passage through the animal's body. The horse's skin seems 
very tightly stretched, and the abdomen is " tucked up." 

Indigestion is due to numerous causes; anything that ir- 
ritates the mucous membrane may cause it. Feeding improper 
food, bad teeth, causing imperfect mastication, working a horse 
immediately after eating — all are prolific causes of indigestion. f 

Lampas, the undue swelling of the membrane covering 
the forward part of the roof of the horse's mouth, is more an 
indication of disease than a disease. Treatment of the swelling 
itself does little good. The cause is usually with the horse's 
diet or digestion. The old practice was to burn the swellings 
with a red-hot iron; such a treatment simply aggravates the 

*Page 50, "Diseases of the Horse," Bureau of Animal Industry, 
1903. 

fThis disease is, except in cases where its origin is hereditary, 
one that should be prevented. It will be discussed more at length 
under the head of " Preventable Diseases." 



170 ELEMENTS OF EIPPOLOGY. 

disease and adds to the pain. It should never be allowed. 
Some veterinarians still advocate cutting the roof of the mouth, 
believing that a little local blood-letting will relieve it. As the 
cause of the disease is elsewhere, a better practice is to try to 
find it and correct it. This is more the work of the professional 
than of the amateur. The existence of lampas does not neces- 
sarily indicate a serious condition. A day or two of rest and a 
few bran-mashes will usually effect a cure. 

It is hardly ever advisable for the amateur to attempt to 
treat diseases of the vital or digestive organs. He will more 
often injure than help the animal. Rest, good food, and san- 
itary surroundings are far better than drugs in the hands of men 
not thoroughly posted on their properties and effects. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 171 



CHAPTER XV. 



STABLE MANAGEMENT. 

The term "stable management" includes the art of 
proper stabling, sanitary care, feeding, watering, groom- 
ing, and nursing of horses. 

Stabling and Sanitary Care. — The first requisite for a 
stable is to provide shelter from inclement weather. In far too 
many stables this seems to be the only object in view. Of 
almost equal importance to the item of shelter, for the robust 
health of the occupants, are ventilation, dryness, and cleanliness. 

Economy of air-space is always sought for in stables. The 
horses are kept in stalls that usually are only large enough for 
the animal to stand or lie in. All available space in the stable 
is used for passageways and for storage of forage and equipment 
of all sorts; no space is wasted. That horse is lucky in a large 
stable who has as much air-space as the man who grooms him 
has in his quarters, although six or seven times his weight.* 

It is, therefore, of the greatest importance that ample fa- 
cilities for ventilation exist. 

A horse needs shelter to best preserve his strength, 
but he does not need his shelter heated artificially. 

In order to keep horses' coats short and glossy in the winter, 
owners generally blanket them. Many, in addition, heat their 
stables. The latter is, in most parts of the United States, un- 
necessary; but, as it is much more comfortable for the stable- 

*Three thousand cubic feet of ventilated air-space per horse is 
recommended as necessary to preserve his vigor unimpaired, according 
to General Fitzwygram. He adds that, since horses are not so sus- 
ceptible to draughts and cold as men are, by ample ventilating ar- 
rangements this demand for air-space may be considerably decreased. 



172 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

men to work in a warm stable, they persuade their employers 
that the horses need it, thereby sacrificing the health of their 
charges to their own comfort. 

Horses that are blanketed in warm stables must, when 
they are taken out, be kept moving or warmly clothed. Other- 
wise there is, in the winter, grave danger of pneumonia, lung 
fever, or other similar diseases, and, in the summer, of founder. 

Proper grooming of horses kept blanketed in cold 
stables will keep their coats in order. They will be more 
willing to work and less liable to suffer from the effects of standing 
outside in the cold, when the business or pleasure of their owners 
demands it. Veterinary bills will be kept down, and the only 
persons to find fault with the arrangement will be the men who 
have to tend them. 

Insist, therefore, on an ample supply of fresh air in the 
stable. Insist also that the fresh air entering the stables does 
not produce direct draughts on the horses. The currents of 
entering air should be diffused by suitable mechanical arrange- 
ments. 

In damp, cold climates, valuable horses that justify the 
expenditure are benefited by having open fire-places in their 
stables to keep them dry and to assist in ventilation. Steam 
or hot water heating arrangements should not be used to heat 
the stalls. 

Dryness should be insisted on in stables. 

This can only be secured in most climates by building the 
stables in well-drained situations, open to the air and sunlight. 

Cleanliness can be secured only by constant super- 
vision. 

Cleanliness and dryness go hand in hand. A horse drinks 
about eight gallons of water a day. This water is used: first, 
to maintain the fluidity of the blood and other liquids, the 
moisture of the tissues, and to replace that lost by perspiration; 
second, to moisten the food and prepare it for digestion; third, 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 173 

acting as a solvent for certain noxious salts, developed in the 
nourishment and maintenance of the body, to excrete the 
solution as urine. 

Much of the daily allowance of water is left on the stable 
floor by the horse. If he is well bedded, the bedding absorbs 
it. If the floor of his stall is of clay, unless the most perfect 
care is taken of it, he will mix clay and urine and manure to- 
gether into foul mud, an excellent culture for disease germs and 
a still for the manufacture of ammonia. If the floor is of wood, — 
a very poor floor, by the way, — the urine soaks into it, and, 
unless perfectly drained, renders it very unsanitary. If of brick 
or stone, the drainage can be easily maintained if the floor is 
well made and the gutters kept open. 

In any case, to insure both cleanliness and dryness, 
all the bedding must be taken out of the stall in the morn- 
ing and the stall cleaned. Such of the bedding as has be- 
come urine-soaked must be thrown away with the manure and 
the rest exposed to the sun and air and thoroughly dried before 
it is put back. The stable should be opened and well aired, the 
mangers cleaned, and the dust swept up and carried out. 

All persons having animals in their charge should 
frequently inspect their stables early in the morning, to 
test the quality of the air in them and to see that their 
orders respecting ventilation have been carried out. They 
should inspect them daily at the hour designated to have the 
bedding aired, to see that everything is scrupulously cleaned, 
and again when the stables are prepared for the night, to see 
that the bedding is clean, dry, and well laid and that the gutters 
are not stopped up. 

Feeding and Watering. — The time of feeding must be 
regulated according to the uses to which the horses are put. 
The sequence of feeding should be the same for all horses. As 
we have seen, water passes almost directly through the stomach 
and small intestines to the caecum, or water-sac; the hay com- 



174 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

ponent of the food is largely digested in the intestine, the grain 
component, especially oats, is almost entirely digested in the 
stomach. Starting with these facts, the order of feeding and 
watering is easily formulated. 

A horse does not usually care for water early in the day. 
He wants his oats then, and should have them. Oats are con- 
centrated food, full of nourishment and energy. They are easily 
digested when thoroughly chewed and mixed with saliva. The 
average horse should be given for his morning meal at least six 
quarts of oats. They should be plump, of sweet, fresh odor, 
and free from dust, dirt, or other seeds. After feeding oats, at 
least two hours should elapse before giving water. After this 
tim3 h3 should be allowed water at every opportunity until 
again fed. If he is worked hard all day, it is best to give him a ' 
second feed of oats at the noon rest-hour, remembering not to 
water him for two hours after. When he comes in at night, he 
should find his hay ration in his manger and no oats. An hour 
afterwards he should be given his grain, and left for the night. 
If the stables are inspected at various hours of the night, some 
horses will be found lying down, some dozing in a standing po- 
sition, some feeding. They like to take their time with their 
food. Their stomachs are small. They are slow feeders. Food 
assimilates better if taken slowly. They are light sleepers, 
easily roused, and they enjoy a nibble of food when awakened. 

Often when the stablemen come in, in the morning, in many 
of the mangers a portion of the food offered the night before will 
be found uneaten, even when no more than the usual amount 
had been placed at their disposal. In such cases carefully clean 
the mangers and feed-boxes before offering more food. The 
horse is off condition and needs coaxing a little. The food he 
has been nosing over all night has become stale and unattractive 
to him. He will do much better if clean, sweet food is given 
him, and he may be induced to eat quite a little if humored 
in this way. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY, 175 

Bran should be fed either dry or steamed. A cold 
bran-mash is about as indigestible a mess as a horse can be fed. 
It is soft and watery and easily swallowed. The molars are 
accustomed to hard, dry food. When food is softened it is 
ready to swallow, from the horse's point of view, and down it 
goes. A cold bran-mash is usually full of dry, unmoistened 
particles; bran does not readily absorb cold water. It is dis- 
tinctly a food that needs either cooking or the action of saliva 
to prepare it for digestion. If it is put in the stomach cold and 
unacted on by saliva, it will ferment and produce -indigestion. 

If fed dry, it is a food slowly taken into the stomach. It 
must be chewed to get it moist enough to be swallowed, and 
the only fluids available are secretions of the salivary glands. 
When bran, thus moistened, reaches the stomach, it, is warm, 
digestion has begun, and that process continues naturally. 

If fed wet, it should be steamed. A large watertight and 
easily cleaned receptacle should be prepared expressly for this 
purpose. The bran, mixed with salt in the proportion of one 
ounce of salt to three pounds of bran, should be put in it, and 
boiling water, in the proportion of two and one-half pints to 
three pounds of bran, poured over it. It should then be tightly 
covered with woolen blankets, and allowed to steam for fifteen 
or twenty minutes. It should be fed hot, and the receptacle it 
was cooked in at once cleaned and sunned. After it has been 
eaten, the mangers should be cleaned thoroughly. Bran-mash 
sours quickly, and, aside from being a good culture for disease 
germs, the odor of sour bran is distasteful and makes other food 
mixed with it not appetizing. 

For horses in good health, bran, preferably dry, should be 
fed one day in seven, and in the evening. Cooked mashes are 
food for sick or ailing horses. 

Horses should have salt, in rock form, in their feed- 
boxes at all times. In addition, fine table salt, a heaping table- 



17o ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 

spoonful to each horse, should be fed twice a week, either mixed 
with bran or oats, or placed where they can lick it at their leisure. 

The water furnished horses should be pure and fresh, 
without taste or smell. In the summer, water should stand 
in the trough long enough for the chill to be taken off. Water 
in large quantities should never be given horses when they are 
heated, unless their exercise is to be continued.* 

Conditioning Thin Horses.t— " When a horse which is 
living under apparently favorable conditions becomes emaci- 
ated, — neither from overwork nor from extreme age, — an effort 
should be made to discover the cause of the thinness. Begin 
by sending for the person responsible for the condition of the 
horse and for the farrier, and with their assistance solve the 
following points : 

1. Has the horse lampas? 

2. Is the tongue sore? 

3. Has he wolf's teeth? 

4. Are the molars sharp and irregular? 

5. Does he quidt his food? 

6. Are the teeth unsound or out of order, or (in the 

case of a young horse) are the milk teeth re- 
maining in too long, and thereby interfering 
with the coming of the permanent teeth? 

*Charles B. Michener, V.S. (on p. 35, "Diseases of the Horse," 
Bureau of Animal Industry, 1903), says: "There is a popular fallacy 
that if a horse is warm, he should not be allowed to drink; many claim- 
ing that the first swallow of water 'founders' the animal or produces 
colic. This is erroneous. No matter how warm a horse may be, it is 
always entirely safe to allow him from six to ten swallows of water. 
The danger is not in the first swallow of water, but is due to the ex- 
cessive quantity that the animal will take, when warm, if not re- 
strained." This opinion from such authority is valuable for horsemen 
to have, but it is unsafe to permit the average stableman to act on it. 
Unless you are sure that your man is careful enough and faithful enough 
to stop the horse at six to ten swallows, it is wiser to adhere to the 
rule that the hot horse should have no water until cooled. 

fFrom Captain M. F. Rimington's (British Army) little hand- 
book, "Hints on Stable Management," pp. 30, 31. 

J A horse quids his food when he has difficulty in swallowing it. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 177 

7. Does he bolt his oats? 

8. Does the adjacent horse steal his oats, or bully 

him? 

9. Is he a spare* horse? 

10. Does he suffer from parasitic worms? 

11. Is his urine normal? 

12. Is his liver out of order? (This is indicated by 

the yellow and bloodless appearance of the 
gums.) 

13. Is he watered regularly? 

"If it is still impossible to account for the horse being out of 
condition, you should next endeavor to find out if he really 
gets his oats or only a small proportion of them; in a word, if the 
oats are being systematically stolen. Assured that the oats are 
not tampered with, it becomes necessary to make further in- 
quiries as to the habits of the horse, as to whether he is restless, 
or in the habit of fretting or over-exciting himself, either in the 
stable or when at work. In some cases it is impossible to dis- 
cover the cause or causes at work. In obscure cases, a complete 
change of diet, and, as far as possible, of surroundings, often has 
a wonderful influence. For example, a couple of months' run 
at grass in the spring or summer is most beneficial to thin, hide- 
bound horses. Failing this, it will often be found useful to fill 
the manger at each stable hour with chaff; this will give the 
horse something to pick at, and keep him from fretting. Some 
men get horses into condition more easily than others, and it will 
often be found that a thin horse, put into good hands, will 
improve rapidly." 

Grooming is another important item in the care of the 
horse. Much of the excretion is done through the skin. While 
at work a horse perspires freely, and the very nature of his work 
keeps him constantly, while at work, in a dusty atmosphere. 

*A spare animal is one that, for constitutional reasons, does not 
take on flesh 

—13— 



178 ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 

The dust and sweat and precipitated salts of perspiration com- 
bine to form a cake at the hair-roots that clogs the pores. Dry- 
ing, it has an unpleasant astringent feeling that annoys the an- 
imal. This crust of filth and dirt catches and fosters disease 
germs and parasites that feed upon the animal and that are 
never found on well-groomed horses. 

Besides cleaning the coat, grooming stimulates the 
circulation and acts as a tonic to the horse. It rests a tired 
animal, relieves congestion following a hearty meal by diverting 
part of the excessive blood-supply from the digestive region. 
Twenty minutes' brisk grooming in the morning and twenty-five 
in the evening is the right amount to keep the animal's coat 
clean and skin healthy. More time than that will be appre- 
ciated in the satiny coat of the horse. A horse can hardly be 
groomed too much. The average horse likes to be fussed with 
and handled. He enjoys having his legs rubbed and his coat 
brushed. The currycomb is not so much enjoyed. It should be 
used merely to loosen caked mud or manure on the exterior of 
the coat, and, except with the greatest care, never below the 
knees or hocks. Use only the fingers and brush on the mane 
and tail. Throw cards and mane-combs out of the stable. 

In grooming with the horse-brush, the groom should stand 
well away from the horse, legs well apart, and, with the brush 
in the hand next the horse's head (and the currycomb in the 
other), brush the coat with the lay of the hairs, throwing as 
much of the weight of the body into the brush as possible. 
After three or four strokes with the brush, clean it on the comb. 
Clean the comb every few minutes by tapping it on the ground 
in rear of the horse. 

The sheath should be frequently washed with Castile 
soap and water, and never oiled. Oil simply collects and 
holds dust and makes washing more often necessary. The 
glands of the skin secrete all the oil needed to keep it in condition. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 179 

Keep the long hairs of the muzzle cut short. They 
have no useful function in the domestic horse and are unsightly. 

Keep the fetlock short the year around. In winter it 
should be an inch and a half long and neatly trimmed. In 
summer it should be clipped. 

This principle in the care and treatment of horses 
cannot be too closely adhered to: Give your horse plenty 
of good food and pure water, house him in a dry, clean, 
and well-ventilated stable, and he will keep surprisingly 
well. Have him well shod. Work him hard, through 
long hours, and he will still keep well under the above 
conditions. When he does get sick or injured, go for a 
good veterinarian, follow his advice to the letter, and so 
save your money and your horse. 

The following rules laid down in the Cavalry Drill 
Regulations are so good that they are reproduced here. 
Every person having to do with horses should observe 
them strictly: 

Never threaten, strike, or abuse a horse. 

Before going into a stall, speak to a horse gently and 
then go in quietly. 

Never take a rapid gait until a horse has been warmed 
up by gentle exercise. 

Never put up a horse brought in a heated condition 
to the stable or picket-line, but throw a blanket over him 
and rub his legs and walk him until cool. When he is 
wet, put him under shelter and wisp him until dry. 

Never feed grain to a horse nor allow him to^stand 
uncovered when overheated. Hay will not hurt a horse, 
no matter how warm he may be. 

Never water a horse when heated, unless the exercise 
or march is to be immediately resumed. 

Never throw water over any part of a horse when 
heated. 



180 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

Never allow a horse's back to be cooled suddenly by 
washing or even by removing the blanket unnecessarily. 

To cool the back gradually, the blanket may be re- 
moved and replaced with the dry side next the horse. 

There is no emergency that will justify striking the 
horse on the head. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. Igl 



^CHAPTER XVI. 



ENDURANCE OF HORSES.— VICES.— PUNISHMENT. 

The endurance of a horse is the measure of his ability to 
resist fatigue and is dependent directly upon his powers of di- 
gestion and assimilation and the co-ordination of his nervous 
and muscular systems. 

Muscular power is derived from the contraction of the 
muscles. The muscles of locomotion are composed of numerous 
fibers, built up in groups, and attached by a tendon at each end 
to a bone. One of these bones serves as a fulcrum, the other as 
a lever. The muscle lies between them. Each of the fibers of 
the muscle, animated separately by a nerve, contracts, and the 
whole muscle is shortened. The bones, when a flexor muscle is 
contracted, are brought nearer together; they are separated more 
when acted on by extensors. The muscular action is the same 
in all muscles — the fibers contract in the direction of their length. 

As a muscle contracts its chemical nature changes. It con- 
sumes oxygen and certain other elements brought to it by the 
blood, which come to an active muscle in increased quantities, 
and it gives off carbonic acid and numerous other waste products 
that the blood washes off through the veins. 

The entire operation, the impulse given by the nerve, the 
contraction of the muscle, and subsequent chemical change in 
the constituent elements of the blood " feeding' 7 the muscle, 
the pull on the tendon, and the resultant energy transmitted to 
the bone, must work in perfect harmony with the corresponding 
actions of all the muscles involved, and is consummated in an 
almost inappreciable period of time. 

The muscles of locomotion are all voluntary muscles; all 
are controlled by the volition of the animal. The muscles that 



182 ISLTSMpNTH OF HIPPOLOGY. 

control the organs of respiration, digestion, and circulation are, 
almost entirely, involuntary, but their actions are under control 
of nerve impulses, coming, as a rule, from nerve-centers other 
than the brain. No muscle contracts unless a nerve animates it, 
and there must be a nerve impulse for every contraction. 

"Prolonged exercise is always accompanied by an expend- 
iture of food, of blood, and of nerve-tissue, by an increased cir- 
culation, by an acceleration of respiration, and, finally, by a 
greater activity"* of the organs of excretion. Admitting this, it 
is plain that the tired horse owes his condition indirectly to one 
of two causes: either to nervous exhaustion, or to an excessive 
clogging of the muscles with waste tissues. In either case, rest 
and food are the only restoratives. 

The ordinary gasoline motor illustrates the situation ex- 
actly. A drop of gasoline is exploded by an electric spark in a 
cylinder. The resultant gases, by their expansion, move a piston 
that is geared to the wheels, producing locomotion. As long as 
the supply of gasoline is kept up, the electric batteries remain 
" alive," and the spent gases can escape and not clog the cyl- 
inders, the efficiency of the machine is unimpaired. But let 
any one of these conditions lapse and the machine stops. So 
with the horse. As long as the digestive apparatus enriches the 
blood, the lungs oxidize it, the veins carry away the waste 
tissues, the skin, lungs, kidneys, and other organs of excretion 
remove the debris from the system, and the vigor of the nervous 
system (the horse's electric battery) is unimpaired, so long will 
the horse do his work. The failure of any one of these functions 
and the limit of his endurance is reached. He may stumble 
along a little longer, but it is with apparent labor and to little 
purpose. He needs rest. , 

From the exterior of the horse a great deal can be predicted 
of his powers of endurance. The competent horseman can tell 
exactly to what sort of work he is best suited — whether he is a 

*"The Exterior of the Horse," Goubaux and Barriere, p. 415. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 183 

draft-horse, a driver, a saddler, or a general utility horse — but 
no one can tell which of two horses, externally of equal promise, 
will be able to do the most work.* 

This is especially true of horses bred for speed. If two 
colts, of similar breeding, are given advantage of the most 
scientific care and training, are brought up by the same trainer, 
on the same diet, and with exactly similar treatment, it is usually 
impossible to tell, until the actual test on the track is made, 
which will prove the speedier. 

The horse doing slow work contracts his muscles slowly; 
the expenditure of tissue is very moderate, and especially mod- 
erate is the expenditure of nerve-tissue. He is tired after a long 
day's work, but it is the weariness that comes from the exhaus- 
tion of the food-supply, not from nervous exhaustion. The cir- 
culation, in the ordinarily healthy animal, is quite sufficient to 
keep the blood pure and the muscles cleared of debris. In fact, 
much of the food-supply is stored between the muscles and in 
the abdominal region in the form of fat. This fat is easily drawn 
on to restore waste tissues in emergencies when extra work is to 
be done, or when the food-supply is diminished. It also adds to 
the mass of the horse, and so increases his value for draft pur- 
poses. The nerves of such an animal are never over-taxed. He 
is kind, gentle, free from vice, and obedient. 

The race-horse, the trotting-horse, the hunter, the polo- 
pony — "the horse of luxury" generally — has work of an en- 
tirely different sort to do. Speed is what he is bred for; speed 
and endurance. The race-horse is bred in economic idleness. 
He is trained to make his machinery perfect and under perfect 
control. The preparation for a race, after his schooling is done, 

*Of a team of large sorrel horses of no particular breed, owned 
by a contractor doing work at the Military Academy, one horse has 
used up three team-mates, and is still sound and in prime condition. 
Nothing in his external appearance would indicate any extraordinary 
qualities. He does his full share of the work, yet what he thrives 
under wears out other horses, apparently just as good, in a short time. 



184 ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 

is a matter of weeks, and his work is done in two or three minutes. 
Yet, with all the preparation possible, after this short period of 
work, he is more exhausted than is the draft-horse after ten 
hours' steady pulling. To restore him to his full strength, he 
must be cooled slowly, fed and watered with judgment, exercised 
regularly. 

The nervous strain in this sort of work is tremendous. The 
muscular contractions are frequent, violent, and sudden. The 
supply of blood and the change in the muscular tissues are 
greatly increased and the debris correspondingly increased. 
The lungs are called on to purify the blood in greater quantities. 
The nostrils are dilated and the windpipe straightened to in- 
crease the volume of air entering the lungs. The inspiration of 
all this added work must come from the nervous system, from 
the brain and other nerve-centers. These organs must be finely 
developed to do this extra work properly. The result is that 
the race-horse, as a rule — and in less degree the same is true of 
the other horses of luxury— is an excitable animal, nervous, high 
strung, often vicious. He has little of the docility and tracta- 
bility of the farm-horse. 

'■ The polo-pony is called on to play two periods of fifteen 
minutes each two or three times a week during the polo season; 
yet in these few minutes of play he earns his oats as honestly as 
the cab-horse does in his ten hours a day. 

The horse should never be pushed to the limit of his en- 
durance. It is not necessary to do this to determine when he 
has worked enough. The horse's breathing furnishes an ex- 
cellent witness to his condition. While he is working easily, he 
breathes without effort. When he begins to tire, his breathing 
becomes more and more labored, and his heaving flanks will 
show the effort he is making to keep up. If the horse is not 
rested then and allowed to recuperate, other unmistakable signs 
of exhaustion will follow. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 185 

"As to nerve - conductibility, its feebleness or its disap- 
pearance is seen in unequivocal signs on the locomotory ap- 
paratus; the muscular contractions are weaker and slower; the 
efforts diminish in intensity and rapidity; the intervals be- 
tween the steps are no longer equal and in co-ordination; the 
members meet and strike each other; the gait, at first uncertain, 
becomes tottering; the head hangs low; the subject becomes 
more and more insensible to the surroundings; soon he falls in a 
heap and dies at his task. But, before reaching this point, his 
steps are less free, heavy, and uncertain; he forges. All these 
signs should be sufficient, and their appearance demands an 
immediate cessation of the experiment."* 



VICES AND DANGEROUS HABITS OF THE HORSE. t 

"The horse is an animal of a noble and generous disposi- 
tion, and naturally possessed of few vices, although he is occa- 
sionally met with having a bad and even furious temper, and, as 
may be expected, manifests great variety of natural habit. His 
vices, however, are too often attributable to the effects of im- 
proper training and to tricks which he is taught by the treatment 
and folly of his groom or keeper. 

"The first breaking-in of the horse should only be intrusted 
to persons of mild disposition, as it is by kind and patient treat- 
ment alone that we can hope to succeed in rendering this val- 
uable animal truly useful and docile. No doubt but in nine 
cases out of ten, where horses exhibit furious or stubborn tempers, 
that these have been produced from the cruelty and ignorance 
of their first trainers. 

"Restiveness. — The most unpleasant and dangerous of all 
vices possessed by the horse is that of restiveness. Sometimes 

*"The Exterior of the Horse," Gouboux and Barriere, p. 420. 

tFrom "The Complete Modern Farrier," Thomas Brown, M.P.S., 
thirty-first edition, 1900, Chapter XV., pp. 340-360. 



186 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

this proceeds from a naturally' bad temper and at other times 
from faultiness in education. This term includes plunging, 
rearing, kicking, bolting, and general impatience while mounting. 
A horse with any of the above faults can never be depended upon, 
for, although we may use means to counteract a particular vice, 
whether by compulsion or gentle measures, he may exhibit that 
vice when we are off our guard and are least expecting it. Force 
may bring him to obedience, and he may succumb to him who 
has had the determination to subjugate him, but, when mounted 
by another, he is extremely liable to break out again. A horse 
that kicks in harness may be driven with safety by a cautious 
or experienced driver or coachman, but still there is no cer- 
tainty of his not exhibiting the same trick years afterwards; 
indeed, most horses which have been kickers return to it again. 

" However high the temper which the horse may exhibit, 
we would recommend that he should be broken from his vices by 
kind and soothing means and these exercised with patience for a 
considerable length of time, and force should only be resorted to 
when all other means have failed. 

" There is little chance of reclaiming a bad-tempered horse 
by harsh treatment; indeed, it will always be found to have an 
opposite tendency. An ill-tempered groom should never be al- 
lowed to enter a stable, however fit he may be for his business in 
every other respect; for a surly, bullying fellow is sure to frighten 
horses so much that when he enters a stable they will jump from 
side to side at his approach. Many a scar has been inflicted by 
such a man by using his pitchfork instead of soothing the animal 
for his fault, and if asked how the horse came by the blemish, he 
invents a falsehood to account for it. 

" Rearing. — Rearing is one of the worse vices in a horse, 
and is practiced with the intent to throw the rider off. Some- 
times it is the result of playfulness, but even then it is a dangerous 
and unpleasant fault. The use of a deep curb and sharp bit will, 
in some instances, cause even a quiet horse to rear, and when 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 187 

this is the case, immediate recourse must be had to the snaffle 
bridle. 

"As in kicking, however, this is seldom or never cured. 
Horse-breakers have attempted it by absurd and dangerous means 
— namely, that of pulling the horse backward on a piece of soft 
ground. This has ruined many horses. If rearing proceeds 
from determinedly vicious habits, it is a hopeless case, as the 
animal seldom abandons it. Sometimes horses rear from play- 
fulness, which is, however, very different from that which pro- 
ceeds from passion. 

" Kicking. — The vice of kicking is too often caused by 
horses being teased, tickled, and pinched by grooms from wanton 
mischief or thoughtless folly. The habit becomes habitual with 
the animals, and what was at first only done in play is exercised 
in anger, and often too when one leasts expects it. In short, it 
is a dangerous and incurable vice. 

" Horses with an irritable or fidgety disposition kick the 
stall or bail, and especially during the night. This is a great an- 
noyance to other horses in the stable and breaks their rest. Be- 
sides, the animal is liable to injure himself seriously, and bring 
on swelled hocks or other malady. Mares are more given to 
this than horses; and in either it is difficult to eradicate if once 
confirmed. 

"The vice is seldom eradicated. Never trust a kicker. 
"Biting. — This trick often proceeds from play, and is 
taught by the folly of grooms or stable-boys teasing the animals. 
But what they have acquired as a sport becomes a fixed habit; 
and when thwarted in any manner they will sometimes bite 
with great severity. Like other vices, this is difficult of cure, 
and it is but seldom they can be really broken of it. Teasing a 
horse should be strictly forbidden. Biting, like other vices, 
should never be taught the animal, as it is easier to avoid it 
than to effect a cure. Gentle treatment is the best suited for all 



188 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

our domestic animals and the surest way to command their 
affections. 

" Seizing the Cheek of the Bit.— Some horses are so cun- 
ning as to get the cheek of the bit into their mouth, which gives 
them a great command over their rider or driver. There is no 
cure for this; and the only thing that can be done is to fasten a 
piece of round leather, or use some other mechanical contrivance, 
so that the animal cannot possibly get the cheek of the bit into 
his mouth. Neither soothing nor beating will remedy this trick, 
as the horse who has once been guilty of it is sure to seize the 
first opportunity to repeat it when anything vexes him. Many 
very serious accidents have happened to persons from horses 
running away with the cheek-bit between their teeth. 

" Running Away. — The only thing that can be done in 
this case is to use a strong curb with a sharp bit, and at the 
same time always keeping a firm bridle-hand. 

" Shying. — Of all the vices incidental to the horse, shying 
is one of the worst, and more accidents have happened from it 
than any other of the vices or defects of the horse. Shying pro- 
ceeds from various causes, but one of the principal is defective 
vision; timidity stands next; and it often proceeds from a dis- 
position to be playful. This vice is far less common among 
high-bred horses than with those which are half-bred, although 
we have met with it in some of our first racers. 

" When we have a horse given to shying, our first attention 
should be directed to the cause— that is, whether it proceeds 
from f riskiness, timidity, or defective vision. 

"When shying proceeds from playfulness, it is difficult to 
judge what mode of cure is best to be adopted, because if cor- 
rected for it, he will associate with any object that diverts his 
attention the infliction of punishment, which will tempt him to 
run away under the dread of a flogging; and if caressed for the 
fault, it is liable to induce him to repeat it. But, of two evils, 
gentle correction must be adopted, and rather to pass by the 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 189 

object than to take him up to it. He should also be spoken to 
sharply. 

"If shying proceeds from fear of new objects, the true way 
to correct him of this is not to force him up to them, but to pat 
him and to soothe him, but avoid beating him; and take care 
to pass the objects of his fear again and again, always going 
nearer to them every time you pass. This will familiarize him 
to them. Seeing that these are harmless, he will soon learn to 
pass by unnoticed any novel object which he may meet with 
upon a road. 

"When an animal is given to shying from defective sight, 
the only method to effect a cure is to take him up to it, and, in 
the act of doing so, he must be coaxed to approach it, and on no 
account must he be beaten; and, although it sometimes happens 
that the horse will manifest great reluctance to do s\ he should 
be persevered with and not allowed to proceed until he has been 
closely the object of his fear. After he has been a few times thus 
treated, he will soon learn to pass Avith indifference any object 
which he may meet. 

"Restiveness, and Resisting Being Mounted. — Some 
horses which possess a lively or impatient temper manifest a 
desire to start off before the rider can get seated in the saddle. 
Indeed, some will attempt to set off whenever the foot is put in 
the stirrup. This is a troublesome and dangerous fault, even 
with the most expert horsemen, and especially so to those who- 
are inexperienced or infirm. Horses sometimes become so cun- 
ning that they know a good from a bad horseman, and finding 
they are either to be or actually mounted by a timid or indif- 
ferent rider, will endeavor to throw him off, or bolt away before 
he is properly seated. 

"When a horse has this propensity, he should be mounted 
quickly and without fear, and not allowed to proceed on his 
journey until he is perfectly quiet. Instances are not lew where 
horses that are generally pleasant and easy to mount become 



190 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

restive when too high fed and having too little work. The 
remedy for this is obvious. 

11 Vicious While Cleaning. — Very great differences exist in 
the temper exhibited by horses under the operation of cleaning. 
Some that are steady and quiet on the road and in the field 
cannot be cleaned without great hazard to their grooms as well 
as the danger of laming themselves. This often proceeds from 
a very sensitive skin and at other times from their grooms having 
inflicted severe chastisement on some former occasion when 
cleaning. Besides, ill-disposed grooms, by teasing the animals, 
or currying them with a broken-toothed comb or uneven-surfaced 
brush, teach them this bad habit, and have even a delight in 
seeing the animals show their teeth; and this is continued until 
it becomes a fixed vice. If a change of grooms takes place, what 
was done partly" in play is then manifested in anger, and serious 
injuries have been inflicted upon the unsuspecting stranger. It 
therefore behooves grooms to be cautious how they handle a 
strange horse. 

" There is much variety in the sensibility of the skin of 
horses, some being so tender that moderate rubbing gives them 
uneasiness, while others are so much the reverse that the whip 
hardly excites it. It will not be difficult to overcome this vicious 
habit. When the groom discovers it, the best plan is to use a 
gentle hand while cleaning, and lean lightly on those parts which 
seem most sensitive; and avoid punishing the horses for exhib- 
iting restiveness, and he will soon lose all recollection of the 
former ill-treatment which he had received from his groom, and 
become quiet and steady. 

" Crib-Biting. — Crib-biting is one of the worst habits which 
a horse can acquire, and is seldom or ever cured. The horse 
seizes the manger with his teeth while he stretches his neck for- 
ward, and after some spasmodic action of the throat, a (slight 
grunting sound is uttered, which appears to be accompanied by a 
drawing in of air. The cause of this trick is not yet well under- 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 191 

-stood; and whether it proceeds from a bad habit, or a defect in 
the false palate and back part of the mouth, still remains un- 
discovered, and therefore we shall not indulge in any speculative 
opinions as to its origin. 

"One serious effect of this trick is the wearing down of the 
teeth; and instances have occurred where they have been 
broken. It has likewise been found that crib-biters are more 
liable to colic than those without this vice. 

"It has been found that crib-biting is acquired by horses 
being in the stable with one which has the trick. Among the 
expedients which have been resorted to for the cure of crib- 
biting, the edge of the manger has been lined with iron, also with 
sheepskin besmeared with aloes, tar, and other disagreeable sub- 
stances, but all with no effect. The only thing in this case is to 
resort to a preventative, and that will be found in the use of a 
strap buckled tightly around the neck, which has the effect of 
compressing the windpipe and rendering it impossible to resort 
to it; but no sooner is the strap removed than the horse re- 
commences his old habit, so that it must be constantly worn to 
be of use. But the continued use of it is apt to produce irrita- 
tion in the trachea, and this will terminate in the affection termed 
roaring. A five or six months' run in a field has been tried 
without proving a remedy. Crib-biters are generally in low 
condition. 

"A muzzle barred across the bottom will prevent crib- 
biting. This must be made only of sufficient width to allow 
full action to the lips, so that the animal may pull his hay from 
the rack and eat his corn, but so close as not to admit of him 
grasping the edge of the manger. Crib-biting is legally con- 
sidered an unsoundness. 

"Wind-Sucking. — This is so intimately connected with 
crib-bhing that it may properly be considered a modification of 
it, as it is accompanied by a want of condition and the same 
bending of the neck, with the head drawn inward, is manifested, 



192 ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 

and the horse alternately opens and closes his lips, and a sound 
is produced similar to sucking air. The remedies attempted 
have been tying up the head of the horse, except when feeding, 
and the application of a muzzle with sharp spikes bending to- 
wards the neck, which will prick him when drawing in his head. 

" Not Lying down. — Horses are sometimes prone to stand- 
ing constantly, and some only lie down once in a fortnight, or 
even a longer period. When this is the ease, they are generally 
liable to swellings in the limbs, and seldom able to go through 
much work. Such horses should, if possible, be put in a stable 
by themselves and left at liberty, and a well-made bed will 
sometimes tempt them to lie down. No means can be adopted 
to force the animal to take rest by lying down. When it is not 
possible to place him in a stable alone, an empty box should be 
constructed, so that he may be left for the night unhaltered in it. 

" Pawing. — This is a disagreeable and very bad habit, and 
proceeds from an irritable temper. Bruised feet and sprained 
legs too often proceed from it. The shoes are quickly worn 
down in front, and the litter considerably wasted. 

11 Weaving. — Animals of an impatient, irritable temper, 
that dislike confinement in a stable, will sometimes keep moving 
their head, neck, and body to and fro, like the motion of a 
weaver's shuttle. These have been called 'weavers.' Such 
horses seldom or never carry much flesh, from their fretful 
temper and incessant movement. The only preventative is to 
tie the head close up, except when feeding." 



REWARD AND PUNISHMENT. 

In training and handling a horse, full advantage should be 
taken of his lack of intelligence and his acute memory. To make 
a horse understand in his training that he is wanted to back, for 
instance, the rider must, in the first place, adopt a set of signals 
that mechanically suggest the idea of backing. The horse is 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 193 

standing quietly. The rider's legs are closed, lower legs slightly 
in rear, to induce the horse to draw his legs under him. The 
knees are not closed, unless he wavers to the right or left. The 
hand is lowered and the rein drawn in. He arches his neck, 
bringing the mass of his head and neck nearer to his body. At 
the same time the rider leans back. The shifting of the mass of 
the horse and rider to the rear throws the center of gravity to 
the rear. The horse has " drawn his legs under him" at the 
suggestion of his rider's heels, his balance is insecure in conse- 
quence, and he steps back. He has done what the rider wishes 
and, at the instant of yielding, the rider should encourage him 
with hand and voice. The second time the request is made of 
the horse by the same signals he steps back more readily, and 
should instantly be rewarded. Finally, after repeated trials, the 
horse learns that, when both of the rider's legs are brought back 
with equal pressure, and he is reined straight back, he is ex- 
pected to back, because he remembers that when he did re- 
spond in that manner to those signals he was rewarded. 

Horses do not recognize persons; they do remember re- 
wards and punishment. The author has often noticed, in the 
riding-hall at West Point, where the same horse does duty for 
two cadets on alternate days, that certain horses, as the platoon 
is marched into the hall, appear to be looking for someone. 
The cadet to whom the horse is assigned approaches him, and 
the horse makes every sign of recognition, and is rewarded with 
an apple or a bit of sugar. It seems almost unquestionable that 
he has recognized an old friend. The next day the other cadet 
to whom he is assigned approaches him; the horse gives the same 
signs of looking for someone, then of recognition, and then of 
disappointment. The second cadet is not his friend of the apple 
or sugar; it was not the friend, after all, that he was seeking, 
but the dainty that the friend was bringing. 

It is well for horse-users that horses are indifferent to the 
identity of the persons handling them, otherwise they might ob- 
—14— 



194 ELEMENTS OF EIPPOLOGY. 

ject to a change of riders. The greater the intelligence of a 
horse, the more care must be shown in his training and use. A 
dull horse becomes sluggish under abuse; an intelligent one 
becomes vicious. 

The tone of voice used by a rider has great influence on a 
horse, if not used at inappropriate times. It is of no use to be 
constantly talking to a horse, but a word spoken in a sharp, 
high tone will startle him, while one in a softer, lower tone will 
soothe and steady him. Like all other aids in horsemanship, 
the voice should be used consistently and at the critical moment. 

The whole education of the horse is based on the principles 
of reward and punishment. No animal is more sensitive to ap- 
probation than a normal horse. Observe a young horse, that has 
not been spoiled in training, when he is learning a new lesson. 
The attitude of his head and ears, the expression of his eye, show 
that he is watching the aids closely. After successfully ex- 
ecuting a command of his rider, if the latter pats his neck and 
speaks kindly to him — " makes much of him" — he shows his ap- 
preciation of the attention by his expression. The rider should 
be careful to give the neck a good, generous slap — not enough 
to hurt, but sufficient to attract his attention, and positive 
enough to show no timorousness. Horses quickly learn whether 
or not their riders are timid, and are very quick to take ad- 
vantage of the occasion arid follow their own inclination. It 
often seems as if an old troop-horse enjoys the fears of the re- 
cruit. This is also shown in the horses used for the instruction 
of the cadets of the third class at the Military Academy. Usually 
only the quietest, steadiest horses are chosen for this work. 
Some of them plod stoically around the hall, impervious to any- 
thing the cadet can do. Others take liberties with their riders, 
in an apparent spirit of play, that they would never think of 
showing if the rider were a first-class man. For this reason the 
pat on the neck should be positive, reassuring the horse that the 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 195 

rider knows what he is about and appreciates the work of his 
horse. It should be accompanied by the voice. 

There is only one instant when punishment should be ad- 
ministered to a horse — that is the instant the fault was com- 
mitted, and punishment should never be given in anger. The 
horse does not reason; he feels and he remembers. The horse 
cannot understand why he is punished. What he knows is that 
certain acts of his are met with reward, certain others with pun- 
ishment, and, if properly handled, .he will do the things he was 
doing when he was rewarded and avoid the things he was doing 
when he was punished. For this reason, when a horse rears, he 
should be struck with the whip while he is in the air, not after 
he comes down. If he kicks, he should be struck while actually 
kicking. If struck after the kick is finished, he will be very apt 
to kick again. The cause and the effect must come together. 

James Fillis, probably the greatest high-school rider of all 
time, says:* "The great art in breaking is to reward and punish 
in an appropriate manner; in order to do which we must seize 
the exact moment of obedience or resistance. Here we must 
bear in mind the fundamental principle of breaking — namely, 
that reward should follow obedience as quickly as punishment 
follows disobedience." 



*" Breaking and Riding," by James Fillis (Charles Scribner's 
Sons, 1902), p. 112. foot-note. 



196 ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



CHAPTER XVII 



THE CARE OF SICK HORSES. 

The prescriptions and methods of treatment contained in 
this chapter are given by Farrier Edmund Lee, U. S. M. A. De- 
tachment of Cavalry, who, for more than twenty years, has had 
the care of the sick horses in the stable of that detachment. 
Probably nowhere in the service are horses put to severer tests 
than here. The stable where he has done his work was over- 
crowded, damp, dark, and badly ventilated. The horses' work 
is of the most trying character — part of the year it is violently 
severe, at other times there is nothing at all for half of them 
to do. In a word, the horses were badly stabled and irregularly 
worked. As a result, there was much sickness, especially of 
the lungs and digestive apparatus. The veterinarian visited the 
stable every third day and prescribed treatment for the horses 
on sick-list at the time of his visit. All emergency cases and 
all the nursing fell on Farrier Lee. In the midst of all these 
difficulties he has faithfully nursed and " doctored" the sick and 
the cripples and has prolonged their usefulness as no veter- 
inarian could have done without an equally faithful nurse. 

These prescriptions are simple, and, as far as drugs can be, 
safe. They have the merit of having been tested by many years 
of successful use. 

In these prescriptions a teaspoon is one fluid-dram; a table- 
spoon, half a fluid-ounce. Medicines should always be weighed 
or measured as accurately as circumstances will permit. 

The troubles most commonly met with in a cavalry stable 
are sprains, open sores, cuts, thrush, scratches, sore backs, colic, 
and colds. Polo-ponies are laid up more often with sprains, 
sore backs, bruises, and ringbones than by any other cause. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY, 197 

For sprains, a lotion made of four tablespoons of lead 
acetate and four tablespoons of tincture of opium, mixed with 
one quart of water is very soothing. This is a stronger lotion 
than the usual white lotion, which has but two tablespoons of 
each drug. Opium is a sedative and acts to relieve pain; lead 
acetate is astringent and tends to contract the capillaries and to 
cool the part by limiting the supply of blood to it. 

This lotion is applied by soaking absorbent cotton with it 
and fastening it to the part with a loose bandage. The bandage 
is kept wet by pouring the lotion on several times daily. This 
lotion is better for sprained tendons and ligaments than for 
sprained muscles. For the latter, and for sore throats as well, 
a very efficient stimulating liniment is made of a pint of linseed 
or olive oil, four tablespoons each of water of ammonia, tur- 
pentine, and opium. This is to be thoroughly mixed and ap- 
plied by hand-rubbing; never internally. 

The oil is slow to evaporate, penetrating, and carries the 
other drugs with it into the affected tissues. The water of am- 
monia and turpentine stimulate a more active circulation, and 
the opium allays the pain. 

For cuts and open sores, use an ointment composed of a 
heaping tablespoon of oxide of zinc, rubbed up with one-fourth 
of a teaspoon of glycerine, four tablespoons of vaseline, and 
thirty drops of carbolic acid. The zinc oxide can also be dusted 
dry on the wound. The wound should be first well washed 
and dried. 

Oxide of zinc is an antiseptic — that is, it destroys the germs 
of disease, putrefaction, or fermentation. It is obnoxious to 
flies. Carbolic acid is also an antiseptic; the glycerine and vasel- 
ine are added to blend the two into a smooth ointment. A cut 
or an open sore that is not infected needs only to be kept quiet 
and clean to heal. The principal object of this ointment is to 
keep disease germs from the cut and to keep it from drying by 



198 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

too rapid evaporation. The latter is accomplished by the vasel- 
ine, which evaporates very slowly. 

In the treatment of open sores or cuts, every effort should 
be made to prevent infection and the consequent suppuration. 
It may be safely asserted that suppuration in an open wound or 
sore is always the result of neglect. Abscesses and internal 
ulcers become infected by germs brought to them, usually by 
the blood itself. A severe bruise, for instance, may develop 
into an infected sore without any noticeable external sign of its 
presence, but a cut can always be seen, and, if the antiseptics 
and suitable bandages are at hand, it should not be allowed to 
fester. An excellent antiseptic wash is made of one part of car- 
bolic aeid to twenty parts of water. This will smart when ap- 
plied. The addition of one part of glycerine will allay the 
smarting to a certain extent, without destroying the germ- 
destroying properties of the carbolic acid. 

Thrush is a direct result, usually, of bad stable manage- 
ment, but as it does not Cause lameness or become prominently 
noticeable until it is in quite an advanced stage, it is frequently 
found in old, poorly-drained stables with bad floors, in spite of 
careful attention to the horse's feet. 

A horse affected with thrush should be taken to the black- 
smith's shop, where all the ragged and diseased portions of the 
frog should be cut away. The frog should then be cleaned thor- 
oughly and sprayed with equal parts of carbolic acid and water — 
a very radical treatment, but one that Farrier Lee swears by. 
The frog is then dusted with powdered bluestone and packed 
with pine tar and oakum. A leather sole is then laid on and 
held in place by the shoe. This treatment will be of no avail 
unless the unsanitary cause of the disease is removed; it will 
stay its progress, but it will not cure it. 

Another very good treatment for thrush is to apply a powder 
composed of equal parts of sulphate of zinc, bluestone, and sul- 
phate of iron. The zinc sulphate is an astringent and it also 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. jqq 

destroys the diseased tissues; the bluestone has much the same 
caustic effect and it is also a tonic. This powder is dusted on 
the frog, which is then packed with oakum, held in place with a 
bandage, a leather boot, or a leather sole put on under the shoe. 

For sore backs, use the familiar "white lotion' ' — four 
tablespoons each of sulphate of zinc and carbolic acid in one 
quart of water. The carbolic acid is of more value if the skin 
is chafed than when it is unbroken. Its virtue lies principally 
in its germ-destroying power. This lotion is rubbed by hand 
on the saddle-gall, if the skin is not broken, and applied to an 
open sore with a sponge. 

If the sore back degenerates into a sitfast, the indurated, 
scabby portion should be cut out by a veterinarian, and the 
wound of operation then treated like an ordinary wound. 

Care should be taken that sore backs and sitfasts are not 
chafed; no treatment will cure them as long as the conditions 
causing them continue to exist. 

Colic is often caused in horses that are exhausted by per- 
mitting them to drink too freely of cold water. This is a spas- 
modic colic, very painful, and a sedative and stimulant is needed. 
Two tablespoons of cannabis Indica (Indian hemp), five drops of 
morphine, thirty drops of tincture of capsicum, mixed with a 
pint of water and given at one dose, will usually give relief; if 
not, repeat the dose in about an hour. 

The cannabis Indica soothes the nerves and so lessens the 
spasms of the muscles, whose actions are governed by the nerves. 
Morphine is a sedative, and the capsicum is a stimulant to restore 
the circulation in the walls of the stomach. 

Colic caused by indigestion — flatulent colic — is treated with 
four tablespoons of aromatic spirits of ammonia, two tablespoons 
of sweet spirits of nitre, mixed in a pint of water and given in 
one dose. Repeat in an hour, if necessary. 

Aromatic spirits of ammonia is useful to expel gas from the 
stomach and intestines; it is also a safe stimulant. Nitre is also 



200 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

a stimulant that acts on the kidneys; it neutralizes irritating 
acids. Its frequent use is very debilitating and injurious to 
the kidneys. 

For obstruction colic, four tablespoons of oil of turpen- 
tine in a pint of raw linseed oil, given at one dose, will usually 
expel the obstruction. 

It should not be very difficult to distinguish between the 
three kinds of colic mentioned above. The stablemen will know 
if the horse has drunk too much cold water. The presence of 
fresh dung in the stall will argue against obstruction colic, and 
if the distress is not caused by cold water, the assumption in 
this case would be that the horse was suffering from colic re- 
sulting from indigestion. 

For coughs, a useful mixture is made of two tablespoons 
of oil of tar, two tablespoons of glycerine, and two tablespoons 
of chloroform, mixed in one pint of raw linseed oil. Two table- 
spoons given two or three times a day is the dose. 

For coughs and colds, nursing will do more than drugs. 
The patient should be kept warm — with blankets in the winter — 
dry and away from draughts. He should have hay in small 
quantities and frequently changed, for the discharge from his 
nose will soil it if left before him long. He should have hot 
steamed bran-mashes and have constant access to water. The 
disease will then run its course, in the usual case, in a few days. 
Exercise should be avoided. His nostrils and lips should be 
frequently washed. 

Scratches, whose seat is in the back of the pastern, is a 
disease that is brought about by the same conditions that pro- 
duce chapped hands in human beings. The part affected should 
be carefully washed and dried and kept greased with an ointment 
made of one part of oxide of zinc to ten parts of cosmoline, vas- 
eline, or lanolin. This dressing should be changed frequently, 
by thoroughly cleansing the part and re-applying the ointment. 
The horse can be used, in mild cases, during the treatment. 
Severer cases demand rest as a part of the treatment, because 
bending the pastern keeps the cracks open. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 201 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



PREVENTABLE DISEASES. 

Preventable diseases are those that result from improper 
care or use. A large proportion of the diseases that a horse is 
liable to comes under this head. 

They may be grouped in two general classes: diseases due to 
bad shoeing, and diseases due to bad stable management. 

Under the first head come, more especially, diseases in the 
feet and legs, manifested by lameness. 

Bad shoeing is the commonest cause of all varieties of dis- 
eases of this region. If, in fitting the shoe, the wall is not rasped 
down evenly all around, if the shoe is too small for the foot, and 
the crust is rasped off to cover up the defect, if the bars are cut 
away, if the shoe is too high behind so that the frog cannot 
strike the ground, the result will be felt in the horse's action. 

The following diseases are usually caused by improper 
shoeing, or may be prevented by proper shoeing: speedy cut, 
splints, strained tendons, broken knees, ringbones, sidebones, 
treads, brushing, corns, and cracks. 

When a horse is laid up for any reason, his shoes should 
be removed at once. This permits a freer growth of the horn, 
it gives the frog a chance to get a bearing, arid it is a rest to the 
foot. The plantar surface of the foot should be rasped smooth 
and the edges rounded off whenever the shoe is taken off, to 
prevent the wall from splitting. 

There is no better way to build up a horse or to keep 
one in health than to allow him an occasional run at 
grass. A horse that is a bit run down in flesh will be much 
benefited by having his shoes taken off and allowed to run for 
a few days in a pasture. The natural exercise, the green food, 



202 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOOY. 

and the freedom will combine to produce most beneficial re- 
sults. Every horse should be turned out in an enclosure of 
some sort every day, if only for an hour or two, whenever pos- 
sible. Horses brought in hot from work and turned loose will 
cool out slowly with no damage to themselves. They will take 
enough exercise to keep from getting chilled. 

Pasturing is especially good for diseases of the tendons, 
ligaments, and bones, and of the breathing apparatus. A horse 
with a docked tail should not be turned out to grass or in a 
paddock during fly-time; he must be given his exercise in an- 
other way. He will be so tormented by the flies that no benefit 
will result from his freedom. 

The condition of a horse— that is, its state of being gen- 
erally—is the result of stable management. In a good stable, 
where clean stalls are the rule, where. good forage is fed, where 
the water is pure, where the horses are thoroughly groomed, 
and which is kept dry and fully ventilated, where the doors are 
wide and high, and all the stable fittings are arranged so that 
there are no projections to injure the horses, there will be need 
of the veterinary surgeon but rarely. 

A horse is said to be in good condition when he is in vig- 
orous health and strength, and in hard condition when, by 
proper care and exercise, he is in shape to make his supreme 
effort, as should be the case before a race. 

Exercise is just as necessary to the well-being of a 
horse as to man. Every horse that is kept in a stable should 
be exercised at least two hours a day to keep him well. Lack of 
exercise will weaken a horse as much as overwork. The amount 
of work expected of a horse should depend upon his condition, 
and this depends as much upon the exercise he has been getting 
as upon his diet or sanitary surroundings. A horse that has 
been turned out to pasture will take enough exercise to keep 
well, but will not keep in working condition. So a horse that 
has been convalescing on grass, after a month or two, may seem 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 203 

to be in fine condition, but, if put to work, will be found to sweat 
freely after slight exertion and to tire easily, His condition 
should be hardened by gradual work or exercise. 

Neglect of sanitary care of the feet, by allowing the horse 
to stand in manure, or in urine-soaked mud, will bring on thrush, 
scratches, and other diseases of the soft tissues of the feet. 

Neglect of grooming is responsible for loss of condition, 
thus making the horse liable to disease. Much of the excretion 
of waste tissues is done through the pores. If this way of ex- 
cretion is closed because of the clogging of the pores, the waste 
tissues will accumulate near the surface, impeding the flow of 
blood in the capillaries, the hair will appear lusterless and dead, 
through being badly nourished, the dead cells of the skin will fill 
the coat. The horse will appear listless and irritable. His vi- 
tality will be low and he will be ready to receive and foster the 
germs of disease. If he is thoroughly groomed, the circulation 
will be stimulated instead of retarded, excretion will go on prop- 
erly, and the coat will show its healthy condition and that of 
the skin beneath by its smooth luster. Grooming does not ben- 
efit the coat by smoothing it, but by cleaning the skin. The 
smoothing of the coat is the merest incidental. 

Bad forage is- responsible for diseases of respiration and 
digestion. Dusty hay is hay that has not been properly cured 
and that breaks up into minute dust-like particles. These par- 
ticles are sharp and irritating to the mucous membrane of the 
lungs, and render it liable to disease. Musty or sour hay, grain, 
or bran produce indigestion and, ultimately, colic. 

Reference has been made to the order of watering and 
feeding. First water, then hay, then grain, — no water for at 
least two hours after grain. A horse that has been all day at 
work comes in at night ravenously hungry. If he finds his oats 
in the manger, he will rush at them, bolting them without chewing 
them. With their hard husk, which is mostly cellulose, un- 
broken, they pass through the stomach undigested, to lie in the 



204 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

intestines ready to ferment and cause intestinal disorders. If 
he is fed his hay first, he will, of necessity, eat it slowly. When, 
an hour or so later, his grain is given him, the edge of his hunger 
is broken, and he will be hours at his oats; they will be perfectly 
digested and will do him a maximum of good. 

Dampness and lack of ventilation in stables predis- 
poses the horses to diseases of respiration and to rheum- 
atism. These conditions, also, by lowering the vitality of 
horses, make them fit subjects for other diseases, especially 
those of germ origin. 

Every stable should be provided with ample openings for 
the admission of air and for the escape of foul air. The fresh-air 
openings should be low down and so arranged that no current of 
air blows directly on the horses. The escape of the foul air 
should be arranged for at the highest part of the stable, and 
should be so made that rain or snow cannot enter the stable. 

Carelessness in the arrangement of stables is account- 
able for many injuries from which horses should be immune. 
Low, narrow doors account for poll-evil and broken hips. Boards 
splintered by kicks or gnawed through leave rough ends to 
scratch and blemish horses. Swing-bars whose chains are 
patched with baled-hay wire, and prominent hooks, nails, or 
latches where horses might strike themselves, may inflict wounds 
that are trifling enough in themselves, but when located about 
the knees or hocks reduce materially the value of a horse, on 
account of the suspicions aroused by their scars. 

Bad saddling and badly-fitting bridles put horses out 
of business by causing saddle-galls and sore mouths, that just a 
little care would effectively prevent. 

Contagious diseases are frequently allowed to spread, 
more through ignorance and carelessness than for any other 
reason. A horse with any discharge from his nose, however 
slight, should be isolated at once. He should not be turned 
loose with other horses, or watered where they are watered, or 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 205 

have his equipment mixed with theirs. His stall should be dis- 
infected, and his equipment sterilized after his recovery. 

Skin diseases, such as mange, ringworm, scratches, grease, 
and those scurfy diseases at the bend of the hock and knee, 
known as sallenders and mallenders, and the presence of vermin 
in a horse's coat, are the surest indices of bad stable management. 

As a general rule, a horse of good conformation that is 
properly fed and watered, thoroughly groomed and, stabled in a 
sanitary manner, will keep well. Hard work, unless pushed to 
an unreasonable degree, will fatigue a horse, will at times greatly 
exhaust him, but, unless his condition has been lowered by some 
preventable cause, no permanent injury will result. 

The horse is made for fast or hard work. He is admirably 
fashioned for it, but the natural laws of his existence must be 
obeyed or he will break down before his time, not from over- 
work, but from neglect. 



206 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



IRREGULARITIES OF ACTION. 

Irregularities of action result from disease or defects of 
conformation. A well-put-up horse that is sound follows the 
usual law of movement. 

The natural gaits — modes of progression — of the horse are 
the walk, trot, and gallop. Some horses have a fourth gait, 
the amble— pacing — but it is usually an acquired gait. These 
gaits a horse assumes, when free to follow his own inclination, 
without any training or preparation. 

The walk is a square gait, where each foot is planted in 
succession. The body is supported all the time. 

The trot is a diagonal gait; the feet are planted in pairs: 
right fore and left hind, left fore and right hind. In changing 
support from one diagonal to another there is a slight period of 
suspension, when the body is wholly unsupported. Aside from 
this brief instant, the body is supported alternately by one di- 
agonal pair or the other, and never by more than two feet. 

In the gallop the feet are planted in succession. One fore 
foot is constantly leading — that 'is, planted in front of the other, 
and the leading fore foot bears the weight of the body for a 
longer time than any other. The body is advanced by a series 
of leaps and is much of the time in suspension. 

In all of these gaits the feet should move in parallel 
planes, should be planted squarely, and should not strike 
each other. 

In the walk there should be no halt in the stride. The 
beats caused by the planting of the feet should be regular and 
followed by the same intervals. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 207 

In the trot each diagonal pair of legs should sustain the 
weight of the body for the same length of time. 

In the gallop the horse should lead with equal freedom with 
each fore foot; his feet should be well bunched during the leap, 
and well extended in receiving the weight of the body and in 
throwing it forward. The canter differs from the gallop very 
little; it is the slow gallop. The leap is shorter, the leading foot 




Figure 102. — -'Iowa." 

Pure-bred trotting-horse in action. 
Courtesy of J. Campbell Thompson, Esq 

is not advanced so far. The body is in suspension for a shorter 
time. The merging of the canter into the gallop is impercep- 
tible. When a horse changes from the walk to the trot and from 
the trot to the canter, the rider is conscious of the instant the 
change is made, but as the gait increases to the gallop and the 
racing gallop, or run, he is conscious merely of an increased 
speed, not of a change in the arrangement of footfalls. 



208 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

There are two artificial modifications of the pace: the rack, 
where the hind foot foots it ahead of its leading fore foot; and 
the single foot, where each foot foots it independently of the 
others. The single foot is a very easy gait indeed for the rider. 

The trot has also two artificial modifications: the fox trot, 
when the fore foot foots it ahead of its diagonal hind foot ; and 
the running walk, where the hind foot foots it ahead of its 
diagonal fore foot. 

The Kentucky saddle-horse has all of these gaits and the 
walk, trot, amble, and gallop as well. The Kentucky breeder 
resents having the gaits above described styled artificial, because 
he has bred his strain of horses to possess them naturally. They 
are so termed because a horse must either be bred or trained 
to possess them.* 

Lameness may be defined as an alteration of action 
adopted by an animal in an effort to avoid pain. Most 
sound horses comply with the rules for the natural gaits given 
above. Their heads are carried uniformly, without nodding. 
If a horse is seen to dwell longer on one leg or pair of legs 
than another, if he nods his head at each step, if he shortens 
his gallop, or is stiff in his action, it is because there is pain 
in one of his legs and he is trying to keep his weight off it or 
to keep from straightening it. He is lame. 

The trot is the best gait in which to locate lameness. The 
walk is too slow; three legs are always on the ground in that 
gait, and, unless very lame indeed, it will be difficult to locate 
it at a walk. The gallop is too complex and too rapid a gait 
for this purpose. The trot, on the contrary, is simple and easily 
analyzed. It is not too rapid for careful observation. One hind 
foot and the diagonally opposite fore foot bear the whole weight 
of the body at any instant. 

*3ee Captain Haves, "Points of the Horse," and Gouboux and 
Barriere, "Exterior of the Horse/' for complete discussions of the 
subject of gaits. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 209 

In trying a horse for lameness, he is trotted on hard, 
smooth ground. If, in trotting, the weight is held on one diag- 
onal pair longer than on the other, it is because bearing the 
weight on the latter pair is painful, and the horse transfers it as 
quickly as possible to the sound pair. The lameness is thus 
located in one of the two legs. 

The front legs, in addition to bearing their share of the 
weight of the body, must support, unaided, the weight of the 
head. When a horse raises his head, he shortens the lever-arm, 
the neck, and thus throws the center of gravity of his body 
further back. This relieves the forelegs of part of their load 
and puts it on the hind legs. By lowering the head the lever- 
arm is lengthened, the center of gravity comes forward, and the 
front legs relieve the hind ones of part of their burden. So, 
having located the lameness in one pair of legs, if, when that 
pair is supporting the body, the head is down, the lameness is 
behind; if the head is up, the lameness is in front. 

If he is lame in both hind or both front legs, he will travel 
in a stilty, stiff manner, and will, when lame in front, keep his 
head higher, and when lame behind, lower, than is his natural 
poise when at rest. 

A horse usually turns on his front feet. If he is quickly 
turned and is noticed to dwell more on one foot than on another, 
it is an indication of unsoundness in the favored foot. This test 
will sometimes assist in locating obscure cases of lameness 
in front. 

If, after noticing these irregularities of action on hard 
ground, the horse is trotted on soft ground, and he travels true, 
the suspicion that he is unsound, and lame in consequence, is 
confirmed. If, on the contrary, he has the same peculiarity of 
gait, the irregularity is probably due to his conformation or to 
some habit. 

Unsoundness in front may sometimes not be detected in 
the horse's action, when his attitude while at rest will give a 
—15— 



210 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



sure indication of it. A horse that is sound always stands with 
his front feet equally advanced. By a provision of Nature, the 
weight-bearing muscles of his front legs are so arranged that 
when he stands square in front they are at rest. This is not so 
behind, fhere he is constantly shifting his burden; one leg 
supports it while the other rests. 




Figure 103. — Pointing a Toe. 

If a horse is observed while standing to advance one front 
foot, or draw it back, resting it on toe or heel, pointing it, as it 
is called, he is unsound. If he rests the foot on the toe, it is to 
relieve pain at the heel, to straighten out the flexing ligaments, 
and the inference is that he has navicular disease (Figure 103) . 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 211 

If he rests the foot on the heel, it is to relieve pressure at the toe, 
or the laminae, and the inference is that he is foundered, or, 
more rarely, that the extensor tendons are pressing on a bony- 
tumor, and he has ringbone. 

Frequently a horse stands level in the stall and goes lame 
in front on hard ground. This is never the case in diseases of 
the soft tissues, but is caused by incipient bone disease. 

If a horse is lame behind and the location of the dis- 
ease is not apparent, the services of a skilled veterinarian 
should be called in. It is difficult enough to properly 
diagnose lameness in front; he is skilled indeed who can 
do~so behind. 

The general rule, that obscure lameness behind is in 
the^hock, and in front in the foot, or in the ligaments and 
tendons, is a safe one for the amateur to follow. 

Many horses, through lack of symmetry, have peculiar 
faults of action not properly called lameness, though resembling 
it. They can be usually corrected by proper shoeing or by the 
use of boots or straps. 



212 ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



CHAPTER XX. 



JUDGING HORSES AND THE EXAMINATION 
FOR SOUNDNESS. 

In the pages that precede an effort has been made to indi- 
cate the general conformation of well-built horses, and those 
diseases and defects to which they are most liable. The appli- 
cation of the theory of what suitable conformation and sound- 
ness are will come when the student is called on to purchase 
a horse for himself. 

The general public is suspicious of horse-dealers, more be- 
cause of its ignorance of the physical and civil laws that relate 
to the soundness of horses than for any other reason. For that 
reason a brief investigation into the subject will spare the 
purchaser much annoyance and mortification. 

The law of warranty has been briefly stated in the opening 
chapter, page 19. Reference to that will convince the reader 
that the examination of the horse he is going to buy and his trial 
had best be very thorough and complete, as it will prove a very 
difficult matter to establish the existence of any unsoundness 
or defect prior to the date of purchase, in a legal manner, to the 
satisfaction of a court. 

A purchaser must not expect to find many perfect horses; 
there are few such, and, excepting young horses, the very 'fact 
of their being without blemishes argues that they possess some 
undesirable quality that has limited their use, and that will 
probably always limit it. He can, however, learn to recognize 
those^glaring defects that make horses especially undesirable to 
own, and to ^discriminate between them and lesser defects that 
can bejovercome, or that will not interfere with the use to which 
the horseis to be put. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



213 




A Study in Conformation. 
Courtesy of Otto Eerelman. 

It is a surprising fact that most purchasers want to buy a 
fat horse. This is a failing that, to be successful, dealers must 
meet by fattening their horses into what is called selling condi- 
tion. Horses in this fat, smooth condition cannot be put to 
hard^work at once; they are more subject to inflammatory dis- 
eases than when properly hardened to their work, and, more 
than all, the fat covers up defects of conformation that would 
be apparent in working condition. 

It is always best to see the horse you are thinking of buying 
in his own stall, when he has not been prepared for your visit. 
You can then inspect him for such stable vices as cribbing, 
weaving, or kicking. 

Cribbing is an injurious habit of seizing with the teeth the 
manger, halter-strap, or woodwork of the stall, or any similar 



214 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 




A Study in Conformation. 
Courtesy of Otto Eerelman. 

thing within his reach, and, at the same time, drawing in his 
breath with a peculiar noise, known as wind-sucking. It is 
usually a sign of digestive derangement. A crib-biter can al- 
ways be detected by an examination of his incisors. The an- 
terior portion of the tables is worn down much more than the 
posterior. This is one of the few vices horses have that is taught 
others by example. 

Weaving is a stable vice manifested by swinging from side 
to side in the stall. It is rarely more serious than an indica- 
tion of a nervous, restless nature. It is a frequent accom- 
paniment of crib-biting. 

Kicking is such a serious vice, and so difficult to eradicate, 
that no horse should be knowingly purchased that possesses it. 
It is often shown by the appearance of the woodwork of the 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGT. 215 

stalls near the heel-posts. A horse given to kicking in the stable 

usually shows scarred heels and capped hocks. 

It should also be noticed whether he points a toe in the 

stall. The meaning of this symptom has been sufficiently 

explained. 

The inspection in the stall finished, have the horse brought 

into the light; if his general appearance is satisfactory, and 

he seems suitable for the purpose to which it is proposed to 

put him, his age should be verified, and his sight tested in a 

general way. 

Assuring yourself in these three regards, apparent general 

suitability, age, and vision, the more critical examination is 

begun. A note-book and a pencil should be at hand to take 

down such departures from normal conditions as you may notice. 
First notice color, sex, and peculiar markings, so as to be 

able to identify the horse later on. Then proceed to a more 

critical examination of the eyes. 

The best light is that coming directly from above, from a 
skylight or a high window in an otherwise darkened room. If 
such a place is not available, bring him to the stable door, closing 
all apertures behind him. After placing him directly facing the 
source of light, stand behind his shoulder and look through each 
eye, from side to side, with great care, noting everything, no 
matter how slight, that interferes with their perfect transpar- 
ency. A horse that has any disease, or any mark of disease, in 
the eye, no matter how slight, is not a sound horse. After the 
examination of the anterior portion of each eye, from behind, 
stand in front of him and compare closely both eyes, to see if 
there is perfect clearness in each, that the pupils are of equal 
size, and that they dilate and contract equally. If any sus- 
picions are aroused, no matter how slight, of the presence of 
cataract, the candle-test should be applied. 

Go next to the near front leg. Next to the eyes the front 
legs are of the greatest importance for saddle-horses. Pass 



216 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



the hand along the withers and the shoulder for saddle-galls, 
sitfasts, and collar-galls, and over the elbow for shoe boils. 

The knees should be most carefully inspected for broken 
knees. While no serious injury may have resulted to the horse's 
knees by his falling on them, while the joint may be perfectly 
unimpaired, still the fact that the^horse has fallen on his knees 




Figure 104. — A Study in Conformation. 



at some time in his history should cause the careful purchaser to 
end his examination with the discovery of scars of broken knees. 
The nerves of the feet are possessed of marvelous sensitive- 
ness, considering their horny covering, and an animal whose 
shoulder is sloping enough to plant his foot well out in front of 
him will not fall, unless he is tired out from extraordinary ex- 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 217 

ertions, or unless he is seriously unsound in one or both of his 
front legs. Whatever the cause of the broken knees, reject 
the horse. 

If the knees are sound, look at the head of the cannon-bone, 
on the inside, for scars of speedy cut. This, as we have seen, is 
a defect of action caused by bad conformation. It is a fault 
difficult to eradicate. The blow is so painful as to frequently 
bring the horse to his knees. It is liable to recur at any time, 
and, as the blow is given only when the horse is going at top 
speed, the accident resulting from his fall is sure to be a serious 
one. For this reason, unless the horse is wanted for slow work 
only, reject him when he shows a scar of speedy cut. 

Splints are found between the knee and fetlock, on or near 
the splint-bones. They are recognized as small bony knots, 
easily felt. If they lie forward on the cannon-bone and not 
near the knee, they usually are harmless. If they are on the 
back of the cannon-bone, they may interfere with the action of 
the tendons. To test this, apply pressure to the tendons. If 
the horse shows pain by flinching, and the tendons show inflam- 
mation, reject him. A pegged splint is almost sure to cause 
permanent lameness. 

Passing the hand down the back tendons, compress them 
steadily. Any tenderness or signs of inflammation is cause 
of rejection. 

Carefully inspect the fetlock, pastern, and ankle for wind- 
galls, ringbones, sidebones, and grease, and the coronet for 
treads and quittor. 

Inspect the pastern and ankle for scars of firing or neu- 
rotomy. Be very suspicious of any scars in this region. A 
horse that has been nerved has but a brief period of usefulness 
ahead of him. 

Pick up the foot and examine the sole for contracted heels, 
thrush, canker, and corns. See that the sole is concave, and 



218 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 




A Study in Conformation. . j 

Courtesy of Otto Eerelman. 

that there is no irregularity in the shoe. Feel the coronet, walls, 
and heels for fever, or any other indications of laminitis. 

Tap the front of the foot with a knife or a coin for seedy toe, 
and look carefully for false quarter. Inspect closely the surface 
of the walls for signs of rasping out founder rings. If this has 
been done, unless the foot has been most carefully stained, the 
hoof will show varying colorings. Be especially careful in your 
scrutiny of a hoof that has been stained or polished. 

Inspect his nostrils for discharges of any character. A horse 
that has a nasal discharge is unsound, and the inspection should 
be put off for a few days to determine whether the discharge is 
or is not chronic. The nasal membranes should be moist, pale 
in color when the horse is quiet, and bright red after sharp ex- 
ercise. They should be free from scars. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



219^ 



: -' ■■'■■..■■. '' : . ■ 




A Study in Conformation. 

Courtesy of Otto Eerelman. 

The ears should be free from] warts, and easily handled. Do 
not expect a horse to permit his ears to be pulled about willingly, 
but he should allow them to be handled enough to be bridled 
easily and to have them trimmed and cleaned. 

The poll should be inspected for fistula. 

A good horse that has been well broken and kindly handled 
will not dodge or show the whites of his eyes when handled about 
the head. Such actions are the surest witnesses to abuse during 
his bringing up. 

Pass then to the off side, examining the jugular vein on each 
side for signs of blood-letting (to relieve congestion of the brain — 
blind staggers). Examine the withers and back from that side. 
Go over the right front leg with the same care and in the same 
manner that you used in the examination of the left one. 



220 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 



Examine the back, especially the lumbar region, for evi- 
dences of kidney trouble. Examine the hip, croup, and stifle. 
Then pass to the hock. 

Raise the horse's tail, pull it to the off side with the left hand, 
stoop down slightly, and look at the inner side of the off hock 




Figure 105. — A Study in Conformation. 



from in front of the leg. If there is a protuberance on the lower 
edge of the hock-joint, inspect it with care for marks of blistering 
or firing. Feel it; if it is hard, it is probably a spavin, and the 
horse should not be bought. Look for bog-spavin, and thor- 
oughpin, capped hocks, and curb. 

Blistering is the process of producing artificial inflammation, 
by the application of a powerful liniment, to relieve congestion 
or to hasten bone-deposit. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



221 




A Study in Conformation. 
Courtesy of Otto Eerelman. 

Firing produces the same result, in a more radical way, by 
actually burning the part with a hot iron. 

Blistering, if severe, leaves an irregular scar, partly de- 
nuded of hair. Rows of dots or thin parallel lines are the marks 
of firing. 

If there is any suspicion of spavin, a simple test is to pick 
up the leg, bend it well, and hold it up for a minute or two; then 
drop it, and start the horse off at a trot. If sound, he will 
not limp. 

The cannon-bone should be examined for splints, rare as 
they are behind, and the- tendons examined for evidence of in- 
flamed or sprained tendons. The same critical examination 
should ba made of the feet as was made in front, and of the left 
hind leg as was made of the right. 



222 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 




A Study in Conformation. 
Courtesy of Otto Eerelman. 

Examine the tail; see that the quarters are well filled up 
behind, and that all is in order under the dock. 

Examine the sheath; look under the belly to see that there 
are no warts or protuberances there, and that the belly is free 
from scars. Look on all the legs for wire cuts. 

The horse's action should next be tested. Have him led at 
a slow gait away from you, noticing the action of the hocks, 
pasterns, and feet. Look closely for any dwelling on either 
hind leg, indicating lameness in the other. Watch his head, to 
see if he nods excessively. 

When he turns, note carefully the ease of action in the front 
legs, and, as he approaches, note the way he handles his front 
feet, and the carriage of his head. He should be trotted past 
the inspector two or three hundred feet, again turned and brought 
to a standstill near him. 



ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 223 

Avoid horses with hackney knee-action. They are almost 
sure to go wrong in front while young, and, while stylish, are 
expensive and not apt to be long serviceable. 

Notice his breathing, the expansion of his nostrils, the heave 
of his sides. 

Have him mounted next, and galloped sharply for a quarter 
of a mile or so, and again inspect his breathing. If he labors 
noiselessly for breath (thick wind),, if the period of exhalation is 
longer than the period of inhalation (heaves) , if he makes a 
noise at both inhalation and exhalation (whistling), or during 
inhalation only (roaring), reject him. 

Feel his pulse; the most convenient place is at the jaw. A 
large artery runs around the lower border of the jaw-bone and 
up on the outside immediately in front of the heavy muscles of 
the cheek. It can be easiest felt where it curves ground the 
jaw-bone, by pressing it gently against the bone. To Uke the 
pulse, press the balls of the first and second fingers against the 
artery. The count should be from 33 to 40 beats a minute; 
nearer the first number before exercise, and the latter just after. 
The pulse slows down in old age. It should be strong and reg- 
ular. The heart can be easily heard by placing the ear at the 
base of the throat or on the ribs behind the shoulder. 

An inspector who buys horses under contract should demand 
that they come up to the specifications of the contract. Con- 
tractors are presumed to have read the specifications before 
they make their bids. The latter should be based on the value 
of the horses asked for, and nothing short of that should be 
expected. When horses of the grade advertised for are worth 
$175, a contractor who agrees to furnish them for $150 should 
not be permitted to put in inferior stock because of his false bid. 
Not only does the inspector bring himself into disrepute for ac- 
cepting inferior animals, but honest bidders who are ready to 
deliver horses up to standard, at a proper price, are cut out of 
their right to do so. 



224 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 

The whole theory of advertising for purchase by contract is 
based on the idea that bidders can learn what is wanted ex- 
actly, and can then figure at what price they can afford to make 
the deliveries. If this theory is perverted by permitting con- 
tractors who have made dishonest or haphazard bids to evade 
their contracts by furnishing as good horses as the price they 
offer would warrant, it would be better to abandon it altogether. 

Well-bred horses that may be predicted as capable of giving 
good service have about the following conformation: 

Head small, clear-cut, and well set on a long, slender neck. 

Shoulders sloping well forward, muscular, and long. 

Front leg well muscled above the knee, cannon shorter than 
leg-bone, and both upright and straight, ankle sloping forward, 
long and elastic; fetlock, ankle, and pastern, smooth, firm, and 
small. 

Feet small, sound, and with well-developed frogs. 

Barrel deep, long, and well-ribbed up, about equal in size at 
girth and middle, and sloping gradually from the middle towards 
the sheath. 

Withers reasonably prominent and well muscled. 

Back flat, well muscled, and free from saddle-marks. 

Coupling short and strong. 

Croup slightly convex, viewed from side and rear. There 
should be considerable length from loin to tail, and not much 
curvature. 

Tail well set on, and, when the animal is in motion, carried 
away from the body. The hair should be fine and silky. 

Thighs prominent and muscular and well filled up, when 
viewed from behind. Measured from hip to hock, the thigh 
should be long. 

Hocks clean-cut, not puffy, wide from the side, large and 
well bent. The point of the hock should not be noticeably 
prominent. Both hocks, viewed from behind, should be parallel 
and straight under the horse's body. 

The cannon-bone should be flat and broad. Pasterns and 
feet as in front legs. 



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